Freed rogue trader ‘extremely anxious’ as he faces deportation

A former UBS trader jailed for fraud in 2012 has said he feels “extremely anxious” after being detained ahead of deportation.

Kweku Adoboli was found guilty of two counts of fraud that resulted in losses of £1.4 billion and was released after serving half of his seven-year sentence.

He was detained during a fortnightly check-in at Livingston Police Station, West Lothian, on Monday and taken to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire.

He has been told he will not be deported before September 10 and his lawyers are working on a fresh claim submission which will be put to the Home Office.

Speaking from Dungavel Mr Adoboli said he is feeling very worried as he faces deportation from the country he considers his home.

He said: “I’ve been here for such a long time, since I was a child, and I think deportation would be wrong considering what happened and what I’ve been doing since.”

Mr Adoboli, 38, left Ghana at the age of four and considered himself settled in the UK, having gone to boarding school here from the age of 12.

He has lived in Scotland since he was released from prison in the summer of 2015, and has been involved in teaching at several universities and working with the Forward Institute which aims to promote responsible leadership.

He said: “Hopefully the government will see sense and recognise that there’s nothing to gain from deportation.

“I’m hopeful but also extremely anxious.

“I think I’ve been doing good work, I’ve been trying to, but whether or not that is recognised by the country’s leaders is another question.”

Mr Adoboli’s parents live in Ghana but he considers the UK his home, having lived here from a young age.

He said: “My family is this 21st century family where the people I’ve grown up with are my family and I think that’s what’s really hard about deportation.

“It destroys a large part of your identity and it just feels really violent.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “All foreign nationals who are given a custodial sentence will be considered for removal.

“Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and we have removed more than 42,800 foreign offenders since 2010.”