British bankers arrive to face Enron-related charges

They were wearing street clothes rather than the typical green jumpsuit because officials expect them to be granted bond, court officials said.

However, it was unclear whether their bond would allow them to return to London or restrict them to the Houston area pending trial.

The three men are each charged with seven counts of wire fraud for allegedly colluding with former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow in a secret financial scam in 2000 to enrich themselves at their employers’ expense.

Their indictment alleges that they siphoned £4m (€6m) while Fastow and others skimmed £6.7m (€9.7m) from the scheme.

They have consistently denied any wrongdoing, and were scheduled to appear before US Magistrate Stephen Smith in the afternoon.

The trio, former executives at Greenwich NatWest, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, became a cause celebre in Britain because of the controversial legislation used to pursue their extradition.

Their case sparked a political storm over the fairness of a treaty used to extradite them.

They were initially charged in June 2002 when the Justice Department’s sweeping investigation of Enron’s December 2001 collapse had just begun to gain momentum.

That probe reached its summit in May when a jury convicted company founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling of perpetuating fraud through lies to investors and employees about the failed energy giant’s financial health.

Lay died last week of heart disease, but Skilling faces decades in prison and is to be sentenced on October 23.

Enron, once the seventh-largest US company, crumbled into bankruptcy proceedings amid revelations of convoluted finances that hid debt and inflated profits.

Fastow, the architect of myriad fraudulent schemes at Enron, was the government’s most high-profile witness against Lay and Skilling. The initial charges filed against the bankers alerted Fastow and his minions that they were in the government’s crosshairs by noting their involvement in the alleged scam.

Fastow’s former top aide, Michael Kopper, cut a plea deal two months after the bankers were charged. Fastow was indicted in October that year, and pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy.

If the bankers go to trial, Fastow and Kopper could testify against them.

The bankers have fought extradition since their April 2004 arrest in London.

Their case has garnered heavy interest in Britain, but in the US, it is a remnant of the early days of the investigation.

Both the House of Lords and the House of Commons mounted symbolic debates this week before the three men’s departure to protest Britain’s compliance with a 2003 extradition treaty that has not been ratified by the US Senate.

Several legislators lambasted British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government and the American failure to ratify the treaty.

Blair has repeatedly defended the agreement.

“We’ve been let down by our government,” Bermingham said shortly before he boarded the plane for Texas.

The three men each face a maximum of 35 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Their extradition came a day after a banker who gave evidence to US authorities investigating the case was found dead. The Royal Bank of Scotland identified the dead man as Neil Coulbeck, 53, and said he had no role in approving the transaction at the heart of the US case.

The FBI said yesterday that Coulbeck was one of hundreds of individuals interviewed as part of the investigation into Enron corporate fraud.

“Mr. Coulbeck was considered a witness in the investigation and the interview that took place was voluntary,” the FBI said in a statement issued in Washington, DC.

“He was not considered a suspect in the investigation.”