Former Barclays CEO John Varley acquitted of fraud charges
By Duncan Ferris
Date: Friday 21 Jun 2019
(Sharecast News) - Former Barclays chief executive John Varley was acquitted by a London appeals court on Friday of charges of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
The court dismissed an application by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to overturn a decision by Mr Justice Robert Jay that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Varley for offences related to supposed secret payments of £322m to secure investments from Qatar during the global financial crisis.
The payments were allegedly repaid when Qatari investors provided emergency funding that helped Barclays avoid a government bailout in 2008.
Varley was one of the highest profile figures and the only chief executive of a major bank to face a jury trial over events that took place during the financial crisis.
The other three defendants in the case, Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath, all denied wrongdoing and will now face a retrial.
Barclays and its UK subsidiary had initially been charged with fraud, misrepresentation and illegal financial assistance as corporate defendants by the SFO, despite warnings from the Bank of England that such charges could destabilise the banking giant.
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