Fraud charge for RBS executive in banking scandal
A FORMER Royal Bank of Scotland manager has been charged with fraud over his involvement in one of the UK banking industry’s most toxic scandals.
The executive, who worked in the lender’s now-notorious Global Restructuring Group (GRG), which was set up to help small and medium companies in trouble, has been under investigation for more than two years.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday can now reveal the manager, who left RBS in 2016, has been charged by Police Scotland in connection with allegations of bribery and fraud.
A senior Scottish chartered surveyor, whose firm worked closely with the bank manager, has also been implicated in the inquiry and may face criminal proceedings for alleged misappropriation of funds.
The Crown Office is examining the police report ahead of making a decision on whether to prosecute.
RBS’s GRG unit was found by a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) probe to have mistreated thousands of businesses and to have focused on extracting income from them.
The alleged misconduct took place in the wake of the financial crisis, when the banking system was at risk of collapse and the UK Government owned more than 80 per cent of RBS following a £45.5 billion taxpayer bailout.
No individual has yet been prosecuted for the actions of the GRG division. The ex-manager, who was suspended by RBS, is alleged to have demanded tens of thousands of pounds from customers in return for being lenient with their debts.
Following an internal probe, RBS passed its findings to Police Scotland in October 2017.
The Crown Office said: ‘We’re deciding whether or not there should be criminal proceedings.’ An RBS spokeswoman said: ‘The bank referred a number of serious allegations against one former employee to the police in 2017 and we have been co-operating throughout their investigation.
‘The types of behaviour alleged are totally unacceptable and have no place in this bank.’
The development was welcomed by a former RBS customer who was among those allegedly mistreated by the GRG division.
He said: ‘It has taken a long time to get to this point and I hope to see justice finally done. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.’
In January 2018, former RBS boss Ross McEwan, who now heads the National Australia Bank, was asked during a Treasury committee hearing if there had been any ‘criminal activity within the bank by staff’.
He replied: ‘Not that we have seen or had reported and certainly none that the police are looking at, to our knowledge.’
After being accused of trying to mislead MPs, he clarified his stance, saying criminal allegations did not relate to the period covered by the FCA probe into GRG.
‘I hope to see justice finally done’