Kweku Adoboli: 'I Need a Miracle,' Appearing in London Court Friday

Kweku Adoboli has been charged with fraud and false accounting by London police in connection with unauthorized trades at UBS that caused the bank a $2 billion loss.

Adoboli has also reportedly admitted to the bank he caused the losses. His father, a retired United Nations employee living in Ghana, said his son made a mistake.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorized police to charge Adoboli, the City of London Police said in a statement Friday. Adoboli is appearing in court Friday to address the charges. He is charged with two counts of false accounting and one count of fraud.

The prosecution will allege that Adoboli has been making the trades since 2008, according to The Wall Street Journal, which also said Adoboli isn't expected to enter a plea in court on Friday.

Police said the investigation of Adoboli's unauthorized trading actions which lost $2 billion at UBS are ongoing.

UBS, Switzerland's largest bank with global operations, asked British police to arrest the company employee, The Washington Post reported. Adoboli was reportedly arrested at a business address in London at 3:30 a.m. Thursday on charges of fraud and abuse of position in connection with the trading losses.

According to the BBC, Adoboli allegedly told UBS about his activity after the bank's monitoring systems hadn't picked up the loss. He was later arrested at his desk at UBS after the bank contacted London police.

Last week, Adoboli had posted a Facebook message saying, I need a miracle.

The loss rocked UBS shares on Thursday, wiping billions from trading values, as the Swiss-based company with global operations said it may not show a third quarter profit because of Adoboli's unauthorized trading and losses.

Colleagues at UBS AG called Adoboli, 31, up and coming and someone who worked hard ... played quite hard, too.

Adoboli was arrested on Thursday by London police on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position. Born in Ghana, the Nottingham University alum studied computer science in college and went to work at UBS in London in 2006.

According to the Financial Times, a former colleague of Adoboli's who worked in UBS' London-based exchange and sat near the trader said Adoboli was well regarded by fellow workers.

He came across as someone who worked quite hard to get where he was and played quite hard, too, the acquaintance told the Financial Times. There is a lot of shock, horror and disbelief. He was incredibly straight and upstanding with very high integrity. He would definitely not be the first place you start looking.

But over the past month, as global financial markets from the U.S. to Europe rocked among concerns over government debts and slow-growth economies, Adoboli reportedly shared with others concerns through social media posts.

Can we shut down global markets for a week so everyone can just chill out? Adoboli wrote in one social network post.

A former landlord said Adoboli is a well-dressed quiet man who wasn't the tidiest but was very well spoken.

His father, John Adoboli, told the Telegraph from his home in Ghana that his son made a mistake or wrongful judgement.

We are all here reading all the materials and all the things being said about him. The family is heartbroken because this is not our way of life, said the elder Adoboli. I brought them up to be God-fearing and to appreciate decency. Growing up and through to school days they were very brilliant and respectful.

Philip Octave, Adoboli's former landlord, told The Associated Press Adoboli fell behind in his rent a couple of times but always paid up in the end.

Octave said Adoboli's rent was $6,320 before the investment banker moved out.

He was not a party chap, Octave told The AP. I found no problems.

According to a Facebook profile now removed, Adoboli lists UBS as a network, and among Activities and Interests lists among many favorites, Al Jazeera English, Ghana, I'm a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!, Samjhana Moon - Photographer, Wani Olatunde Photography, Brother Mouzone (The Wire), and Vines of Argentina.

Adoboli listed his home as London, United Kingdom, and had more than 400 Facebook Friends. By mid-morning Thursday, Adoboli's Facebook page was deleted.

The Swiss bank's loss is a staggering demonstration that all the clever systems that the banks now have, especially after the financial crisis, still cannot stop a determined individual getting round them if they want to, Chris Roebuck, visiting professor at Cass Business School in London, told Reuters.

UBS told investors before European markets opened that it has discovered a loss due to unauthorized trading by a trader in its investment bank. UBS employees about 18,000 in its investment bank, and most are based outside of Switzerland, working primarily in London and the U.S. Later, the bank told employees it would keep them apprised of the situation.

The bank also sent a letter to employees, attempting to calm shaken nerves about the bank's solvency amid the trading loss.

Although the news is regrettable, the fundamental strengths of the company won't be affected by this, the letter said. We ask that you continue concentrating on your customers. In these uncertain times they are counting on your support.

UBS said no client positions were affected by unauthorized trading, but the blow will be significant -- and some suggest it could threaten the future of its investment bank, already suffering from reputation blows after massive subprime losses during the financial crisis, resulting in a government bailout.

UBS also made headlines last year in a U.S. tax evasion case that exposed Swiss banking secrecy.