Former Petrofac sales executive pleads guilty to bribery over oil contracts February 7, 2019 A former Petrofac executive charged with using illicit payments to secure oil contracts in the Middle East has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of bribery, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said this morning. David Lufkin, 51, formerly the UK-headquartered oil and gas firm’s global head of sales, made the plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as [...]
Patisserie Valerie reveals which London cafes are set to close as timeline charts cafe chain’s collapse February 4, 2019 Administrators have closed 71 stores owned by Patisserie Holdings after the firm collapsed in late January, resulting in 920 redundancies. A total of nine Patisserie Valerie branches have been shut down in London, with a further three Debenhams concessions closed. Read more: Patisserie Valerie shareholders consider legal action after company collapses The firm’s two Glasgow stores [...]
Barclays fraud allegations implicate Qatar, says trial judge January 31, 2019 The jury in the trial of four former Barclays executives charged with conspiracy to commit fraud have been told that Qatari entities would be implicated if the prosecution’s case proves correct. Justice Robert Jay warned of the potential repercussions of the case, in which the ex-bank bosses stand accused of making secret payments to Qatar [...]
Barclays boss feared payments to Qataris could be seen as a ‘bung’ January 30, 2019 A Barclays boss feared that fees paid by the bank to Qatari investors might be see as a “bung”, a court was told today. Richard Boath, one of four former Barclays executives charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, told investigators two advisory services agreements (ASAs) that form the crux of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) [...]
Barclays ‘big dog’ pushed for £25m special payment after Qatari cash mission January 30, 2019 A Barclays boss who helped secure a Qatari cash injection that saved the bank from the prospect of government bailout during the financial crisis was recommended for a £25m bonus to reward his efforts, a court heard yesterday. Roger Jenkins, nicknamed “Big Dog” by colleagues, told Barclays executive Rich Ricci he wanted a “special payment” [...]
Investors get green light to inspect SFO documents in legal action against Tesco January 29, 2019 A group of investors pursuing legal action against Tesco over its 2014 accounting scandal have been given the green light to inspect documents compiled by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Last Friday a High Court judge ruled that the documents, now in Tesco’s possession, would be of “considerable litigious advantage” to the claimants. Judge Hildyard [...]
Bailout fears kept Barclays banker ‘up at 2am’ January 29, 2019 One of Barclays’ top executives was awake and panicking at 2am during the height of the financial crisis over fears that a government bailout would compromise his bonus, a court heard yesterday. Roger Jenkins, Barclays’ investment head for the Middle East and north Africa, told senior bank staff “I was panicking that we were about [...]
Cleared Tesco executive launches legal action against supermarket following £250m accounting scandal January 25, 2019 A former Tesco executive recently cleared over the retail giant’s £250m accounting scandal is suing the supermarket following the collapse of the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) case against him last year. Chris Bush, one of Tesco’s most senior employees who joined the supermarket chain upon leaving school, was acquitted of charges of fraud and false [...]
‘The food sucks and the sex is worse’: Barclays fraud trial execs joked about prison January 24, 2019 Ex-Barclays bosses on trial for fraud joked about going to jail while organising a crucial capital raising drive at the height of the financial crisis, with wealth manager Tom Kalaris saying “the food sucks and the sex is worse”. Another executive, Richard Boath, expressed fears the bank would be “basically dead” if it were unable to secure [...]
Tesco and Carrefour to trial refillable container scheme in bid to cut waste January 24, 2019 Supermarket giants Tesco and Carrefour are set to trial a refillable container scheme in a bid to cut waste created by excess packaging and single-use containers. The French and British retailers have teamed up with a coalition of major consumer product companies to pilot a new service to provide online shoppers with refillable containers. Read [...]