About a month ago, English bank Co-Operative Bank plc, which in October was handed over to bondholders in order to plug a 1.5 billion pound capital shortfall and which added last month it will need to raise an additional 400 million pounds to plug another funding shortfall related to legal and restructuring costs, surprised its brand new owners with news that its full year loss would be a massive $2.2 billion. However the bank's insolvency was just the beginning, and the biggest surprise was not to be unveiled until today when UK prosecution charged Paul Flowers, the banks' former chairman from March 2010 until June 2013, and a Methodist minister, with possession of cocaine and ketamine. Oh and crystal meth.
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Bloomberg reports [5]that Flowers, 63, is scheduled to appear at a criminal court in Leeds, England, on May 7 to face the charges, the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement today. Flowers, who was arrested in November as part of a drug investigation after he was filmed buying crack cocaine by a U.K. newspaper, was released on bail, West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.
“I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Paul Flowers with possession of Class A and Class C drugs relating to an incident on Nov. 9, 2013,” prosecutor Clare Stevens said in the statement.
And while everyone enjoys mocking the tabloids, guess who broke the story: "Regulatory and government probes are also in the works after the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported Nov. 17 that Flowers bought crystal meth and crack cocaine."
“At the lowest point in this terrible period, I did things that were stupid and wrong,” Flowers said in the November statement. “I am sorry for this, and I am seeking professional help, and apologize to all I have hurt or failed by my actions.”
As for Flowers, he is sorry: "Flowers apologized for his conduct in a statement after his arrest last year, saying there had been a death in the family and pressures related to the bank.
That... and the monkey on the back.
As for seeking professional help, he can talk to Bubba in prison if he would be willing to become his personal bodyguard, as he will need it. Unless of course the UK legal system is as broken as that in the US, in which case Paul's sentence will be 3 hours of community work and a promise never to look at blow again.