Giving his father the news was "the hardest day of my life," according to a former Barclays trader who was imprisoned in connection with a $9 billion interest rate rigging scandal.
I sobbed uncontrollably. Peter Johnson said to the BBC, struggling to remain composed, "I felt like I had let him down.
In a tearful interview, Johnson described how a state-level cover-up, followed by a string of injustices, had devastated not only his life but also the lives of his family.
Johnson was sentenced to four years in prison for "manipulating" interest rates; he was released in 2018 after serving just two.
It was later discovered that he was one of the scandal's first original informants.
In his first interview since being freed, he claims that after Barclays placed him on gardening leave in 2011, he fell into a deep depression and refrained from telling his family about his situation or being seen in the streets near his house.
Johnson was fired by Barclays in 2012 after more than 30 years of service and was at risk of being investigated by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which could result in a sentence of up to 30 years in a US prison.
"For about five seconds after I woke up, I believed everything was fine. I would then realize it wasn't. And I would walk around all day long feeling like I had a weight pressing against my chest. Before using alcohol as a form of self-medication, I would wait until six o'clock. He claims, "I experienced panic attacks.
"I tried to control my emotions for years because I didn't want to feel angry, resentful, bitter, twisted, and other negative emotions.
"But this is too significant to ignore or brush under the rug. People should be informed, and once they do, they can decide whether or not what was done was right or wrong. ".
His psychological burden was so great that receiving a criminal charge in the UK as opposed to the US was a relief.
"It was absurd.". I was relieved to learn that I would face criminal charges at that moment. I mean, it's just dumb, but it was good. It simply demonstrates how crazy things were for me at the time. ".
Johnson's attorney Tony Woodcock, who is now retired but was once a senior partner at renowned white-collar crime experts Stephenson Harwood, views the prosecution of his former client as an outrage.
Senior MPs who read my book exposing the scandal, including former Brexit secretary David Davis and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, have come to share that opinion.
In my more than 30 years of practicing law, I have never encountered a case where I felt so intimidated and helpless and where the stench of politics was so overpowering. Hopefully, all of the evil that is hiding in the mud will be exposed," says Mr. Woodcock.
One reason for his strong feelings is that Johnson, who worked as a cash trader for Barclays from 1981 to 2011, was the first person to come forward about the interest rate rigging scandal, which resulted in banks paying nearly $9 billion in fines and the prosecution of 37 traders and brokers for "manipulating" the benchmarks Libor and Euribor, which measure the cost of borrowing money.
Johnson repeatedly warned the Bank of England and the US central bank between 2007 and 2009 about other banks publishing erroneous, low estimates of the interest rates they would have to pay to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, a practice known as "lowballing.".
He attempted to publish more accurate and higher estimates, but he kept receiving orders from above to be no more honest than any other bank. Leaked audio recordings show that the UK government, the Bank of England, and the Barclays board all put pressure on Johnson to lie in that order.
The book contains evidence that the late Sir Jeremy Heywood, head of policy for then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was one senior Whitehall official who pushed Barclays to reduce its Libor estimates of the cost of borrowing dollars.
Johnson says, "I believed they were mistaken. "However, I felt that my only option was to follow them. The UK government and the country's top financial institution are asking you to take action. Saying "no, stuff you!" is extremely difficult.
But on June 27, 2012, four years after the 2008 banking crisis, repressed rage against the banks over their lack of responsibility for it erupted into the media when US and UK regulators hit Barclays with a record £290 million fine for manipulating interest rates.
The 14 unnamed traders, which Johnson knew included himself, were harshly criticized by both Labour and Conservative MPs.
There is frequently a scapegoat in situations like that where a major corporation is involved. And I had a sneaking suspicion that it might even be me.
The public was rightfully outraged by what they perceived as excesses in the banking sector. They also demanded heads mounted on a pike. And I ended up becoming one of the heads," he continues, adding, "I think they could have picked better ones. ".
His prosecution was planned by criminal authorities on both sides of the Atlantic in collaboration with Barclays attorneys.
He was not prosecuted for lowballing, but rather for manipulating rates on a much smaller scale between 2005 and 2007 by granting traders' requests to very slightly adjust his Libor rates up or down.
Johnson was the first banker to admit to manipulating interest rates in 2014. But he did so only because he believed the odds were against him and there was nothing else for him to do. Barclays had stopped paying for his legal fees and any other financial assistance.
Even if he were found innocent, he worried that the high cost of his defense would prevent him from keeping his house, his savings, and thus his ability to support his children and grandchildren.
"I didn't think I did anything wrong. But I was able to see how everything was developing, and it didn't seem favorable for me. ".
Johnson, a 68-year-old grandfather, was one of four Barclays traders jailed for four years in 2016.
HMP Wandsworth, which he describes as "pretty basic, pretty horrible," was his first prison.
Prison guards were in short supply. And on occasion, we were not allowed to leave our cells for 54 hours at a time, other than for 10 minutes to receive our meals. ".
Later, he was moved to Ford Open Prison, where he made the decision to increase his level of fitness by walking around the prison's perimeter, clocking 6,000 miles and raising £3,000 for charity.
Following a US appeal court ruling that the prosecution case was misconceived, the DoJ in the US has asked that all 19 convictions for interest rate rigging be overturned. This is the same body that initially declared behavior like Johnson's to be illegal.
It was discovered that the trader requests Johnson was jailed for were not only not unlawful but also did not violate any rules. Many of those convictions were the result of guilty pleas that were entered into under the threat of US prosecution, which the DoJ no longer considers to be valid.
The only nation left where making or complying with the requests is now considered illegal is the UK. The cases need to be sent back to the courts, according to letters sent to the Times by David Davis, John McDonnell, and other MPs, peers, and senior attorneys.
In the best case scenario, I'd like my guilty plea to be withdrawn. I'd essentially like to have my reputation cleared. Additionally, I want senior leaders to be held responsible," says Johnson.
He responds simply when asked who they are, saying, "The Barclays Bank board, the Bank of England, and the UK government. ".
Barclays declined to respond to questions about this article.
The Serious Fraud Office, which prosecuted Johnson, claimed that its cases were supported by evidence. Nine bank traders, according to the report, rigged rates on purpose for their own gain. They were found guilty of a crime by two distinct juries and the Court of Appeal. ".
A representative for the Bank of England stated: "The Bank fully cooperated with the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into Libor manipulation, responding to all requests for information and documents. ".
The government did not attempt to sway specific bank Libor submissions, according to a statement from the Treasury. ".
On Twitter, abide by Andy Verity. @andyverity.
