Kweku Adoboli jailed seven years for fraud

The Ghanaian financial trader working for Swiss bank UBS in the UK, has been jailed seven years by a court in London.

According to the BBC, Kweku Adoboli who was acquitted on four counts, was found guilty on two counts of fraud. His actions cost the bank a loss of $2.3 billion.

Adoboli, 32, born of Ghanaian parents started work  with UBS  as a junior trader in 2006.

The prosecution told Southwark Crown Court that he gambled with the bank’s money, and he didn’t insure or hedged against losses. But Adoboli claimed he had been trading in the interest of the bank, the BBC report said.

The prosecution further described him as a greedy banker who wanted to boost his ego.

Adoboli, who worked in UBS’s global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds (ETFs), which track stocks, bonds and commodities, was arrested on September 15, 2011.

According to the report his parents and friends who were at the court when the sentence was pronounced broke down in tears.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi