Ghanaian born Kweku Adoboli arrested for $2bn bank fraud

Kweku Adoboli, pictured on his Facebook page, reportedly worked in UBS' equities department

A thirty-one-year-old Ghanaian born Kweku Adoboli has been arrested in London in a dramatic pre-dawn swoop today Thursday September 15 on suspicion of losing a major investment bank £1. 3bn.

He was held on suspicion of committing fraud while working at Swiss bank UBS, after police raided his home at 3. 30am. After the raid the bank's shares fell by seven per cent, as UBS warned that the unauthorised trading could tip the firm into a third-quarter loss.

Bank chief Oswald Gruebel revealed to staff in a memo yesterday that the rogue deals had been discovered within the past 24 hours.

He told staff: 'We regret to inform you that yesterday we uncovered a case of unauthorised trading by a trader in the Investment Bank. We have reported it to the markets in line with regulatory disclosure obligations.

'The matter is still being investigated, but we currently estimate the loss on the trades to be around 2 billion US dollars. '

He vowed to 'establish exactly what has happened' and underscored that 'no client positions were affected'.

The German born Group Chief Executive Officer has been in the post since 2009 and called the arrest 'distressing'.

He urged staff to remain focused on their clients as the investigation continues.

Kweku Adoboli worked at the bank's headquarters in the very heart of London's finance district and according to the Financial Services Authority joined UBS in 2006 as a trainee investment advisor.

http://www.dailyguideghana.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ubs.jpg A spokesman for the City Of London Police confirmed that the 31-year-old man had been arrested in a pre-dawn raid at an address in the city in relation to a fraud allegation adding that 'he remains in custody. '

Adoboli's profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn showed he spent the past five years working at UBS's European Equity Trading division after three years as a trade support analyst for the bank.

He graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2003 with a degree in E-commerce and digital business, the university said.

According to Philip Octave, Adoboli's former landlord, he lived in an expensive loft on Brune Street for several years before moving out about 4 and a half months ago.

The landlord described Adoboli as a well-dressed quiet man of African origin who “was not the tidiest” of people but very well spoken.

He fell behind in the rent twice but always paid up in the end, Octave said, adding that his rent was a hefty 4,000 pounds per month (US$6,320). He said he asked him to move out so he could refurbish the apartment.

“He was not a party chap,” Octave said. “I found no problems. “

Adoboli's profile picture on Facebook showed a black-and-white photograph of an African man in his early 30s, with interests including photography, cycling and boutique wines.

The profile became unavailable hours after Adoboli's arrest, indicating that someone with the password had removed it.

Source: Citifmonline. com with additional files from Daily Mail