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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| 'NatWest Three' head for prison | 'NatWest Three' head for prison |
| (18 minutes later) | |
| Three British bankers have been sentenced to 37 months in prison each for their role in a multi-million pound fraud linked to US energy firm Enron. | Three British bankers have been sentenced to 37 months in prison each for their role in a multi-million pound fraud linked to US energy firm Enron. |
| David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby - the so-called NatWest Three - have been sentenced after admitting to wire fraud. | David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby - the so-called NatWest Three - have been sentenced after admitting to wire fraud. |
| A Texas judge announced the sentence, thereby approving a plea-bargain deal. | A Texas judge announced the sentence, thereby approving a plea-bargain deal. |
| Last November, the three, all 45, admitted to defrauding former employer NatWest out of $19m (£10m). | Last November, the three, all 45, admitted to defrauding former employer NatWest out of $19m (£10m). |
| Judge Ewing Werlein in the Southern District of Texas announced the sentence on Friday. | Judge Ewing Werlein in the Southern District of Texas announced the sentence on Friday. |
| Conspiracy | Conspiracy |
| The men admitted to conspiring with ex-Enron employees Andrew Fastow and Michael Kopper, who are already in prison, to defraud NatWest of $19m and then split $7.3m between themselves. | The men admitted to conspiring with ex-Enron employees Andrew Fastow and Michael Kopper, who are already in prison, to defraud NatWest of $19m and then split $7.3m between themselves. |
| Charges brought by prosecutors argued that the three men had advised NatWest to sell part of a firm, Swap Sub, owned by Enron for less than it was worth. | Charges brought by prosecutors argued that the three men had advised NatWest to sell part of a firm, Swap Sub, owned by Enron for less than it was worth. |
| The men then left the bank and bought a share in the Enron-owned company, before selling it on at a higher price for a profit. | The men then left the bank and bought a share in the Enron-owned company, before selling it on at a higher price for a profit. |
| Bermingham, of Goring, south Oxfordshire, Glasgow-born Mulgrew who lives in Brighton, East Sussex and Darby, of Lower Wraxall in Wiltshire, were extradited to the US in July 2006 and had previously protested their innocence to seven charges. | |
| But in return for last year's guilty plea to one count of wire fraud, US prosecutors agreed to ask for the six other counts to be dismissed and support the trio's bid to serve some of their sentence in the UK. | But in return for last year's guilty plea to one count of wire fraud, US prosecutors agreed to ask for the six other counts to be dismissed and support the trio's bid to serve some of their sentence in the UK. |
| Enron, once a hugely successful energy firm, collapsed in 2001 with debts of $31.8bn (£18.3bn). | Enron, once a hugely successful energy firm, collapsed in 2001 with debts of $31.8bn (£18.3bn). |