A convicted fraudster responsible for the biggest trading loss in UK banking history has won a last-minute reprieve from his planned deportation.
Kweku Adoboli, 38, was convicted in 2012 of fraud after losing $2.3 billion (£1.8bn) of UBS’s money.
A Ghanian national who had been living in the UK since he was a child, Adoboli served half of his seven-year sentence before being released in 2015 and was scheduled for deportation.
The fraudster had lost an appeal against his deportation in 2016, and two weeks ago was detained and held at Scotland’s Dungaval Immigration Removal Centre ahead of his expulsion.
His legal team then lodged a judicial review and injunction on the grounds of public interest, saying that his offence was not violent and that as he no longer possesses a banking licence, he could not commit the same crimes.
Adoboli was informed Tuesday hours before his deportation that the applications were successful “until such time as the outcome of the review is determined”, with the review likely to take several months, reports Sky News. He is currently being held at an immigration removal centre and his lawyers are attempting to get Adoboli bailed.
The convicted criminal blamed “racism” for the UK’s decision to deport him, despite all foreign criminals sentenced longer than four years being automatically considered for deportation.
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes has said: “Financial crime, like all crime, has an impact on the society that we live in and the public expects robust action to be taken against foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crime.”
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