Barclays trial judge says SFO claims implicate #Qatar | Financial Times

Barclays trial judge says SFO claims implicate Qatar | Financial Times:

Qatari entities must be just as dishonest as the Barclays bankers on trial for fraud if the prosecution is correct, a judge told a jury hearing a criminal trial over the UK lender’s attempts to avoid a government bailout during the financial crisis.

Mr Justice Jay intervened in a jury trial at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday to spell out that the logic behind the Serious Fraud Office’s case against John Varley, the former chief executive of Barclays, and three other top bankers, rests on the allegation that side deals struck with the prime minister and sovereign-wealth fund of Qatar at the same time as two emergency capital calls in 2008 were shams.

“A sham agreement is one that does not mean what it says,” Mr Justice Jay said on the seventh day of trial. “It requires two parties.