UBS trader Kweku Adoboli 'gambled £1.4bn to feed ego' The 32-year-old investment banker caused "chaos and disaster to himself and all those around him" when his trading was uncovered, the prosecutor said. Instead of admitting earlier mistakes he compounded the problems by trying to cover up his trades and lying to his bosses. The opening day of Mr Adoboli's trial on two counts of fraud and two counts of false accounting heard how the trader earned £360,000 in 2010. However the salary and bonus was not earned through skill but fraudulent trading, the court heard. A packed court three at Southwark Crown Court was told: "On the 14th September last year, UBS discovered that Mr Adoboli's deals, which he hoped would lead to huge profits for the bank and from which he might expect to receive an enormous bonus had in fact led to the bank making losses of $2.3bn. This colossal loss arose purely as a result of mr Adoboli's fraudulent deal making, which amounted to naked gambling. Mr Adoboli, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, was arrested in September last year after the Swiss bank uncovered his allegedly fraudulent trades. The court heard how losses built up by Mr Adoboli could have paid the salary of 70,000 nurses or building six new hospitals and that his actions "risked the very existence of the bank." Mr Adoboli's fraudulent trades dated back to 2008, two and a half years before he was caught. He made false accounting entries to cover his tracks using experience he had gained working in back office to conceal his fraudulent trades. The case continues.