Trader in massive UBS loss on trial

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LONDON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Former UBS trader Kwaku Adoboli is on trial in Britain for alleged unauthorized trading that cost the Swiss bank as much as $2.3 billion last year.

He pleaded not guilty in January to charges of fraud and false accounting.

Prosecutors in Southwark Crown Court said Adoboli, 32, broke the rules limiting bankers and lied to his superiors to cover up his actions, The Daily Telegraph reported. Friday.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass told jurors Adoboli "gambled" the bank's money away to "increase his bonus, his status, his job prospects and his ego."

"Like most gamblers, he believed he had the magic touch. Like most gamblers, when he lost, he caused chaos and disaster to himself and all of those around him," Wass alleged.

The charges are tied to Adoboli's work in UBS's global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds, the newspaper said.