The UK’s top fraud investigation agency failed to take the proper steps to secure key documents from the lawyers of Qatari investors before the trial of four bankers accused of making secret payments worth £322 million (Dh1.5 billion).
A judge said the documents would “almost certainly” contain discussions of the deal in which Qatar’s ruling family and sovereign wealth fund paid £4bn to keep Barclays Bank in private hands during the 2008 financial crisis.
The terms of the deal between Qatar and Barclays are at the heart of the case against the four senior bankers.
But investigators from the Serious Fraud Office failed to take all “reasonable and appropriate” steps to secure the documents, the judge ruled in January.
Judge Robert Jay’s criticisms of the investigation were revealed at the end of the seven-week prosecution case against the former executives.
The four include the bank’s main Middle East dealmaker Roger Jenkins and former chief executive John Varley, the most senior banker to be put on trial in connection with the crash.
Qatar provided the largest tranche of the £11bn of capital raising sought by the bank in 2008, but with rates of commission more than double that of other investors, which was kept secret from the markets, a London court heard.
Details of the money were allegedly disguised as payments for future unspecified services from the Qataris to help Barclays build their businesses in the Middle East.
The trial focused on whether the agreements were a sham to cover illicit payments to the Qataris, or whether they expected to receive services in return.
The trial heard that the bankers believed Barclays would fold without the investment from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and an investment vehicle under the control of its former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani.
Richard Boath, one of the four defendants and the former European head at Barclays, and a senior legal official for the bank, are heard on a recording of a phone call laughing at the suggestion that Sheikh Hamad would provide advisory services.
The lawyer talked about “his excellency doing some work, supposedly” before adding he should not say that or risk a “smack” from another in-house lawyer.
A fraud investigator working on the investigation asked Mr Boath in 2016 if he was laughing because “services from Sheikh Hamad are unlikely”.
Mr Boath responded: “No I’m laughing at him [the lawyer]. I don’t know why I’m laughing. I think I’m laughing at his humour.”
He told the investigator that the Qatari team was impossible to deal with and that he did not entirely trust them.
Mr Boath said one Qatari official ranted over attempts by Barclays to detail the services that would be supplied.
The officials later settled on a much more brief and vague agreement that he described to colleagues as ugly.
He said it was plausible that Mr Jenkins’ good relations with Sheikh Hamad would mean the bank would receive services in return for the multimillion-pound fees but accepted it would not be a “slam dunk”.
“The last thing Roger is going to do is sit down with HBJ [Sheikh Hamad] and make him write it all down on a bit of paper,” Mr Boath said. “HBJ’s going to say, ‘Get out of here’.”
He described Sheikh Hamad as the critical figure in the negotiations.
“He ran the country,” Mr Boath said.
If Sheikh Hamad “said it was Tuesday, it was Tuesday”, he said in an interview transcript.
The court heard no Qatari person or entity was ever formally accused in the five-year investigation, which was dragged out for two years because of legal wrangling over an initial refusal to hand over documents.
Mr Jay’s criticism of the agency’s failure to secure documents from the Qatari side came in a ruling only weeks before the trial was to start.
Mr Varley, Mr Jenkins, Mr Boath and Thomas Kalaris, the former head of Barclays wealth management division, are accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false deception.
The defence case is scheduled to start on April 1.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Civil%20War
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RIDE%20ON
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How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The%20Last%20White%20Man
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
