The trial of former Barclays CEO who, according to prosecutors, allegedly made "dishonest" payments to Qataris begins in London

The opening of one of the most important trials in the recent history of British finance began Wednesday in London. It was alleged that former Barclays bosses – including its CEO – had entered into dishonest agreements to avoid a government bailout.

The defendants, including former chief executive John Varley, and three colleagues, Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath, all deny the conspiracy to commit fraud based on misrepresentation. Varley and Jenkins deny a second charge of fraud.

This is the first jury trial in the United Kingdom that alleges wrongdoing related to the financial crisis. The crisis threatened to collapse the global banking system and several banks, including Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Northern Rock, have in fact failed.

Other British lenders have been forced to take bailout measures from the government in order to meet their capital ratios – the extent to which the stability of a bank is judged. But the activity of former Barclays executives of mobilizing capital from Qatari investors privately was subsequently the subject of an investigation for alleged fraud.

Qatari companies, Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Holdings, invested £ 6 billion ($ 7.8 billion) in Barclays' capital raising business in 2008.

"These agreements were in fact no real service agreements," said Ed Brown, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) prosecutor for the United Kingdom. "These are dishonest mechanisms to hide extra fees paid to Qataris for their investment."

Barclays paid an additional £ 322 million to Qataris, according to Brown. These fees came in the form of two separate "consultancy contracts", £ 42 million and £ 280 million, respectively.

"The ASA fees were actually subscription fees or commissions," said Mr. Brown. The ASA fees were, and remained, payments for the Qataris investment agreement. The ASAs were nothing more than mechanisms to disguise additional subscription fees and / or hidden discounts from the apparent price paid by Qatar / Challenger for their investments. "

Judge Robert Jay will oversee the six-month trial in London's Crown Court in Southwark.