Qataris pocketed £1bn from Barclays bail out

. . . yet shareholders are still nursing huge losses

A CONTROVERSIAL rescue plan which has left Barclays facing a fraud trial may have netted £1bn for Qatari investors, new findings reveal.

The Arab nation ploughed £3.7bn into the bank which was teetering on the brink of collapse during the financial crisis.

Barclays and four top former executives have now been charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over £346m of payments linked to the deal.

Now, research suggests that the Middle Eastern investor may have pocketed a healthy £1bn profit by supporting the bank – while ordinary British shareholders have lost 3pc of their savings every year since the deal in 2008.

Overall, Qatar may be up 43pc on its investment, according to estimates by the Financial Times. The state bought shares and other more complex instruments such as equity warrants and convertible notes, which paid a profit despite the rocky share price.

Although the fund-raising happened nine years ago, the SFO only brought charges against Barclays last week.

It accused the lender of two counts of fraud over the £346m payments, which were allegedly handed out around the same time that Qatar pumped cash into the bank in two separate 2008 fund-raisings.

Barclays is also facing a charge of ‘unlawful financial assistance’ over claims it loaned the Qataris £ 2.3bn. Four ex- bosses have become the first senior bankers to be charged over their actions during the financial crisis.

They include former chief executive John Varley, 61, who became a City darling after he steered Barclays through the market meltdown without turning to taxpayers for support. He has quit as director of miner Rio Tinto and investment giant Black Rock since he was charged.

He also resigned as chairman of cancer charity Marie Curie.

Varley and 61-year- old former Middle East chief Roger Jenkins – once the highest-paid financier in London who earned a reputed £75m in 2005 – face up to 22 years in prison if found guilty.

Financial institutions boss Richard Boath, 58, and Thomas Kalaris, 61, of the wealth and investment management unit, face one fraud charge each. They could both be jailed for ten years if found guilty. All four deny wrongdoing, as does Barclays.

The fund-raising is also the subject of a lawsuit by glamorous financier Amanda Staveley, who is suing Barclays for £700m plus costs. The 44-year- old is an exgirlfriend of Prince Andrew whose connections in the Middle East helped keep Barclays afloat.

Staveley represented Abu Dhabi investors who backed its 2008 fund-raising, and she says that Barclays unfairly favoured the Qataris at the time.

£3.7bn investment in Barclays by Qatar in 2008

£210m

lawsuit Barclays was hit with for selling toxic mortgage debt in US

£1.5bn fine it paid in 2015 for rigging currency trades

£700m what Barclays is being sued for over Qatari fund-raising

4

former bosses of Barclays charged with fraud over the Qatar deal

44.7pc fall in the bank’s share price since the Qatari bailout