Ex-UBS Trader Adoboli fears deportation as U.K. pressure mounts

Kweku Adoboli, a former UBS Group AG trader jailed in 2012 for causing a $2.3 billion loss to the bank, could soon be deported to his native Ghana as U.K. government officials ordered him to report more frequently to a local police station.

Adoboli discovered, as he checked emails on his cell phone during an interview on Thursday, that his bail conditions were changed so that he must show up every two weeks instead of every four. That means his next visit will be on Sept. 3 instead of Sept. 17 — bringing forward a meeting at which he fears that he may be detained.

“They’ve changed my bail so I’ve got to report every two weeks,” he said, taking a deep breath. After a moment, he added, “this now allows them to basically make a decision and still remove me on the 3rd of September.”

The former trader is facing removal from the U.K. after serving about half of a seven-year prison sentence for fraud, following a 2012 conviction for causing the multi-billion-dollar loss at the bank’s London unit. He’s lived in Britain since he was 12, but the Home Office wants to use British laws that require foreign nationals sentenced to more than four years in prison to be sent back to their country of birth.

Adoboli, now 38, said the move had put him under greater pressure. “It’s in the public interest not to deport me,” he said.



A Home Office spokeswoman said by email that “all foreign nationals who are given a custodial sentence will be considered for removal.” She said the department didn’t comment on individual cases.

The Home Office is changing the bail terms because Adoboli has exhausted his rights of appeal in his fight against deportation, the government department told him, after his application for a judicial review of his case was refused on Aug. 13.

“As you are now appeal rights exhausted you cannot now work or claim any benefits in the U.K.,” according to the Home Office letter. “It has therefore been decided to amend your reporting” at the local police station to every two weeks.

The development comes after Adoboli won a temporary reprieve in his battle to remain in the U.K. He was concerned that he’d be detained on his most recent required monthly check-in, on Monday, but he was allowed to leave. In June, he lost an appeals court bid to block his deportation.

Adoboli has raised more than 16,000 pounds ($20,530) from an online campaign to pay for his legal battle, according to his crowdfunding website.