[ by Howard Haykin ]

Kweku Adoboli, the former London-based UBS trader who currently is serving a 7-year jail sentence for a fraud that prompted a multibillion-dollar loss at the Swiss bank, has requested an appeal.  He was sentenced in November, after a unanimous jury found him guilty of one count of fraud.  The jury was 9:1 on the 2nd fraud charge, and acquitted Mr. Adoboli on 2 charges of false accounting.  It's unlikely that Mr. Adoboli’s jail term will be significantly reduced should the second fraud charge be reversed, his lawyer said last year.

Mr. Adoboli had pleaded not guilty on all charges, arguing that his actions were aimed at generating profit for UBS and that colleagues were aware.  But the prosecution portrayed Mr. Adoboli as a “gambler” who sidestepped rules when it suited him. They also accused him of circumventing UBS risk controls and hiding losses by booking fake trades.     [ Dealbook, 3/1/13 ]