NatWest Three Forced to Remain in Us

A US judge today rejected a request from the so-called NatWest Three to return to Britain to await trial on Enron-related fraud charges.

The decision is a major blow for David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, who were extradited to Texas last week in a case that has embarrassed the Blair government.

Lawyers for the trio said they faced financial ruin if forced to stay in the US while they await their trial.

The case is scheduled to start in September, although it will probably be delayed. The three also maintain that they need to be in Britain in order to work and be with their families.

Federal prosecutors pointed to their lengthy extradition battle as evidence that the three might not come back or launch another protracted extradition fight.

Court papers filed by the trio's lawyers say that if they are allowed to stay in England, they will waive extradition, wear electronic tagging devices and provide $4m (£2.1m) in financial guarantees signed by friends and family.

The case has sparked a furore among business groups and opposition politicians, who have criticised the fast-track extradition process as being weighted unfairly in America's favour.

But the state department's chief legal adviser, John Bellinger, told the BBC that such concerns were misplaced and that the three bankers would get a fair trial.

"This image of the US not being committed to a system of laws is troubling. It is very important for the British people to understand that an extradition treaty like this is very much in their interests," he said.

Under the new rules, the US is no longer required to provide prima facie (preliminary) evidence in court when seeking to extradite suspects from Britain, whereas the UK has to prove its case in a US court in order to extradite US citizens to Britain. In the case of the NatWest Three, however, case evidence was provided in court.

Another issue for human rights groups in the UK is the fact that the US Senate has yet to ratify the new extradition treaty.

"It is disappointing to us that the Senate has not moved more rapidly. We're working very hard to have it ratified, but this is not something that is in the power of the administration alone," Mr Bellinger said.

The ratification process began today with a Senate foreign relations committee hearing on the treaty.

The former NatWest bankers each face seven charges of embezzling £7.3m in an Enron-related fraud.

The three say they are innocent. However, the prosecution will call on two former top Enron figures, the chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, and the global finance managing director, Michael Kopper, to give evidence.

The two former executives have provided sworn statements saying that the three knowingly colluded in the financial wrongdoing that surrounded the now defunct energy trading empire.

Both have admitted their own guilt and are helping the authorities with a plea bargain in the NatWest Three case.