Four former Barclays executives appear in court over Qatari fundraising deal

Four former Barclays bankers have appeared in court on Monday (3 July) where they face fraud charges.

John Varley, the former chief executive of Barclays, became the first global bank chief executive to face criminal charges, at a preliminary hearing at Westminster magistrates court.

Apart from Varley the other three are former executives Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath.

All were bailed to appear at the next hearing on 17 July.

That will take place at Southwark Crown Court, where the accused, along with their former employer Barclays bank, are expected to enter a plea.

Varley stood alongside his former colleagues and only only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot granted unconditional bail to Varley and Boath.

However, she added Kalaris, a dual US and British citizen residing in London and Jenkins, a British citizen living in California, would required to post £500,000 security for bail within seven days.

The case, brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), relates to the lender's dealings with Qatar during its £11.8bn ($15.4bn) fundraising in the financial crisis.

In particular, Britain's top prosecution body said the case focused on Barclays "capital raising arrangements" in Qatar "which took place in June and October 2008, and a $3bn loan facility made available to the State of Qatar acting through the Ministry of Economy and Finance in November 2008."

Barclays undertook two cash calls in 2008, raising £4.5bn in June and a further £7.3bn in October from investors in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere.

The Qatari investors included Qatar Holding, which is part of the state's sovereign wealth fund, and an investment of the former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani.

At the centre of the SFO's probe – which began in 2012 – are £322m of payments made by Barclays to Qatari investors, which were dubbed "advisory services agreements", during the fund-raisings. Also, earlier in November 2008, Barclays agreed to provide a $3bn loan facility with the state of Qatar.