UK bankers' extradition could be first of many

David Bermingham

David Bermingham, one of three former NatWest bankers facing extradition to the United States over Enron-related charges, says he could be the first of many executives to be shipped to America under a new fast-track system.

"If I were a UK executive I would be extremely concerned," Bermingham told Reuters on Tuesday.

He said he knew of others behind him in the queue, such as Ian Norris, former chief executive of engineering company Morgan Crucible, whom the United States wants to extradite on charges of alleged price-fixing.

Bermingham and his two former NatWest colleagues Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew will be handed over to US marshalls at London's Gatwick Airport on Thursday and put on a flight to the United States, to face trial in Houston, Texas having lost a long-running fight against extradition.

Theirs is the first high-profile case under a new extradition treaty with the United States in force since January 2004. This was designed to speed up extradition of terror suspects, but now the United States, which has yet to ratify the treaty, is being accused of using it for white collar crime.

"It's undermining the confidence in cross-border trade with one of our most important business partners and that can't be good," said Bermingham, who faces having to sell his house to pay US legal costs estimated at about US$2 million.

He pointed to a US price-fixing lawsuit against British Airways and Virgin Atlantic as well as a US claim of market manipulation against UK oil giant BP.

"You wonder to what extent there are any UK individuals involved in that," he said.

"You can be pretty damn sure if there are any allegations of cross-border crime, and in particular anti-trust, they are going to want to hear the cases in the US" British business leaders and opposition Conservative politicians have waged a campaign in the British media over the past two weeks in support of the bankers.

Mervyn Davies, chief executive of Standard Chartered, for example, was the latest to throw his weight behind the campaign on Tuesday. "It has the potential to do grave damage to business between Britain and America," he was quoted saying in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Bermingham said supporters would deliver a petition to Home Secretary John Reid on Tuesday with about 7,000 signatures.

"It's entirely within in the gift of John Reid if he wants to do it he could, but it's an act of political will and there isn't too much of that about at the moment." The British government has said it has no basis to stop the extradition. But this week it took action to try to get the United States to ratify the new treaty, sending junior Home Office minister Baroness Scotland to Washington.

Berminghan said Britain's upper house, the House of Lords is set to vote later on Tuesday on amendments to the treaty, although any changes will not affect the bankers' case.

One of these would require crimes alleged to have been committed in the UK to be tried here unless the country requesting extradition could demonstrate it was in the interests of justice for the case to be heard there.

If the amendments are passed, the House of Commons would have to vote on them before they become law.

The three bankers who worked for NatWest Bank, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland, are alleged to have conspired with Enron executives, including the collapsed energy trader's former finance director Andrew Fastow, over the sale of a stake in an Enron entity in 2000 for less that it was worth, which made them US$7.3 million.

They deny the allegations. They have sought to have their case heard in Britain rather than the United States, but no legal proceedings have been launched against them in Britain.

Bermingham said once they arrive in Houston they will have to put on prison overalls.

"Our hands will be chained and we'll be taken off to the Federal Detention centre in downtown Houston and we'll spend the night there pending a bail hearing. And if we don't get bail we will be long-term incarcerated there."

- REUTERS