Qatar’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim sought assurances from the highest levels of UK government in an attempt to protect his and Doha’s shares in Barclays bank, a fraud trial heard this week.

The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) alleges that four bankers agreed to pay £322 million ($425 million) in secret fees to Qatar in exchange for billions of dollars of investment during the financial crisis.

The SFO alleges that this was done through “sham” advisory services agreements. Barclays avoided a government bailout as a result of the emergency fundraising.

During the fraud trial, which began in January, defendant John Varley — the bank’s former chief — said that Sheikh Hamad had sought assurances that his investment would not be affected should a government bailout happen.

“I believe Sheikh Hamad sought assurances from the prime minister, Gordon Brown, that the Qatari investment in Barclays would not be forcibly diluted by a mandatory British government investment,” Varley told investigators, according to the Financial Times.

Varley added that Sheikh Hamad sought similar assurance from the Financial Services Authority regulator, the newspaper reported.