A SENIOR member of the Qatari royal family has thrown Barclays’ fundraising efforts into jeopardy after raising legal claims against the bank over an alleged €50m (£40m) fraud.

The billionaire sheikh, a member of Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family, claims that gross negligence by Barclays allowed an employee to siphon off sums of about €4m a month from a personal account in Marbella.

The allegations, which relate to transactions that took place between December 2001 and February 2003, are detailed in documents filed in a Spanish court.

Although there have been several failed attempts to settle the claim, the sheikh is expected to increase pressure on Barclays after revelations that the Qatar Investment Authority is supporting the bank’s £4 billion cash call.

The QIA, run by another member of the Al Thani clan, is one of four overseas investment groups that have been lined up to support a £4 billion fundraising by the bank. China Development Bank, Temasek of Singapore and the Japanese financial giant Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are also expected to provide funding.

The sheikh’s allegations have emerged just days before Barclays is due to begin marketing the fundraising to its existing UK shareholders.

It is understood that the QIA is not yet aware of the alleged fraud, which has, until now, been a private matter between the bank and the particular family member.

The allegations form the basis of a criminal investigation in Spain, as well as a possible civil suit for damages.

The sheikh claims that a former trusted employee, Gerald Gouallier, set up a bank account at Barclays’ Marbella branch through fraudulent means.

The account was set up as a joint account under both the sheikh and Gouallier’s names. However, the sheikh alleges that documents signed to open the account were forged, and that he had no knowledge of its existence.

The bank also failed to demand any proof of identity or to conduct a face-to-face document-signing process, the sheikh alleges.

The sheikh had a second, legimitate account with the Barclays branch in Marbella, which had a similar account number. Gouallier, who was trusted to handle cash transfers between bank accounts around the world on behalf of the sheikh, juggled sums between the two Marbella accounts.

A total of €29m in cash was withdrawn, while a further €20m was transferred to other bank accounts before the alleged fraud became apparent to the sheikh. Over one four-day spell, €2.5m in cash was withdrawn from the account.

Money transfers of €2m or more were frequently made to bank accounts in Monaco, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland.

The sheikh says he was never contacted by Barclays about the huge sums being moved in the account, in spite of the fact that he was a co-signatory.

The sheikh claims gross negligence on the part of Barclays for failing to comply with standard money-laundering regulations, which should have flagged up the irregular cash payments and huge swings in the account’s balance.

At one stage in August 2002, the allegedly fraudulent account was more than €4m overdrawn.

The sheikh also claims that Juan Antonio Porras Guerrero, the manager of the branch in Marbella at the time who has since left Barclays, was complicit in the alleged fraud.

Both Gouallier and Porras are under criminal investigation in Spain, and have been released on bail.

Spanish police have supported the sheikh’s claim that his signature was forged on the original document that opened the account.

The sheikh has already recovered €500,000 from an account in the British Virgin Islands, and €3.4m has been reclaimed from a third party believed to have been involved in the alleged fraud. A further €1.3m has been labelled as legitimate household expenses that were paid from the account on behalf of the sheikh.

The sheikh claims that he is still owed about €42m.

Barclays declined to comment on the case.

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