Bob Diamond and John Varley, both former chief executives of the bank, and other senior members of Barclays' former management, include Roger Jenkins, former head of the bank’s tax advisory business, and Chris Lucas, former finance director, are set to be questioned under caution by the UK's Serious Fraud Office, the FT said.
This was an acceleration of the SFO's probe into allegedly corrupt arrangements with Qatar as part of the bank's emergency cash call in 2008, it said.
The timing of this probe is not good for Barclays, as it launched a big restructuring plan last week to boost profitability.
"They've just sliced off two arms and a leg, and still someone's out to get them," said one person involved, according to the FT.
A spokesman for Diamond, who was head of Barclays’ investment bank at the time of the capital raising, said he “will continue to assist wherever he can on anything related to Barclays, but he is unable to comment on any specific inquiry. He is very proud of his tenure at the bank.”
Diamond agreed to buy a stake in Rwanda's state-owned bank through his Africa-focused venture in April.
