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NatWest Three to appear in court NatWest Three offer guilty plea
(about 12 hours later)
Three British bankers extradited to the US on fraud charges will appear before a court later. Three British bankers extradited to the US on fraud charges connected to former US energy giant Enron have pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
David Bermingham, 44, Gary Mulgrew, 45, and Giles Darby, 44, the so-called NatWest Three, will go before a judge in Houston, Texas. David Bermingham, 44, Gary Mulgrew, 45, and Giles Darby, 44, the so-called NatWest Three, were in a Texas court.
All three were extradited from Britain in July last year on allegations relating to the collapse of US energy giant Enron. Until now the three had protested their innocence to all seven fraud charges.
The trio may have a case put against them at the 2200GMT hearing. Prosecutors say that in 2000 the three men advised former employer, NatWest, to sell part of a firm owned by Enron for less than it was worth.
Fast-track extradition It is claimed that the three then left the bank and bought a stake in the Enron-owned company, before selling it on at a significantly higher price and making a huge profit.
Lawyers for the men said that they had been asked not to make any comment on the case, and so far all three have strongly proclaimed their innocence. They were arrested in the UK in 2004.
The hearing is scheduled as a re-arraignment - which observers say may indicate that a plea bargain has been struck. High-profile extradition
A plea-bargain would mean the accused admitting their guilt in order to face lesser charges or for an agreed, or reduced, sentence. The case hit the headlines last year as the three men fought against their extradition to the US.
A report in the Houston Chronicle said the men were set to change their pleas from not guilty during the hearing on Wednesday in Houston federal court. They were extradited in July 2006 under a new fast-track system agreed by the UK government and face up to 35 years in prison if found guilty on all charges.
Prosecutors say that, in 2000, the three men advised their former employer, NatWest, to sell part of a company owned by Enron for less than it was worth. All three have been on bail since shortly after their extradition but were barred from returning to the UK before their trial.
They then left the bank and bought a stake in the company before selling it on at a significantly higher price and making a huge profit, it is claimed. They are now due to be sentenced on 22 February.
The case hit the headlines as the three men fought against their extradition to the US. Enron, once the seventh largest company in the US, collapsed in 2001 with debts of $31.8bn (£18.3bn) after it was revealed that it had fraudulently hidden vast losses from investors.
They were extradited under a new fast-track system agreed by the British government and face up to 35 years in prison. Wire fraud is a US legal concept that allows for higher penalties against any fraudulent activity, if the activity in question involves electronic communications of any sort.
They have been on bail since shortly after their extradition but have been barred from returning to the UK before their trial. It is often used as a means for a federal prosecution of what would otherwise have been a matter for a state court.