Ex-Barclays executives cleared over #Qatar fees in blow to UK fraud office - Reuters

Ex-Barclays executives cleared over Qatar fees in blow to UK fraud office - Reuters:

Three former Barclays (BARC.L) executives were acquitted in London on Friday of charges they helped funnel 322 million pounds ($418 million) in secret fees to Qatar in return for rescue financing during the credit crisis.

In a blow to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), a jury cleared Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris, and Richard Boath of fraud.

The men, aged between 61 and 64, all denied any wrongdoing. Qatar, a major investor in Britain and still a significant Barclays shareholder, was neither investigated nor accused of wrongdoing.

The verdict draws a line under an ambitious, seven-and-a-half year investigation that led to the first criminal charges in Britain against senior financiers at a major bank over credit crisis-era conduct.