Barclays faces 50m euro Qatari fraud claim
(LONDON) Claims from a senior member of the Qatari royal family over an alleged 50 million euro (S$106 million) fraud at Barclays could flare up again just as the UK bank seeks to raise funds from Qatar, a newspaper said.
The Sunday Times said a billionaire sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling Al Thani family, claims that gross negligence by Barclays allowed an employee of the sheikh to siphon off about four million euros a month from a personal account in Spain. The allegations relate to transactions that took place between December 2001 and February 2003, and the sheikh is expected to increase pressure to settle the claim as the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) prepares to buy a small stake in the bank, the paper said.
Barclays declined to comment on the issue. -- Reuters