Three former bankers are set to be extradited to the United States from England on Thursday to face fraud charges related to collapsed energy company Enron after the failure of last-minute appeals.
David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby will report to a police station in Crawley, Sussex, on Thursday morning, their lawyer, Mark Spragg, said today.
The bankers, who worked for NatWest bank, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland are alleged to have conspired with Enron executives, including former Enron finance director Andrew Fastow, over the sale of a stake in an Enron entity in 2000 for less than it was worth, which made them $7.3 million.
They deny the allegations.
Known as the Natwest Three, the men will be handed over to US marshalls and be put on a flight to Houston from Gatwick airport.
They are seeking bail that will allow them to return to Britain to prepare their cases; otherwise they could spend two years in jail in Houston awaiting trial.
"We hear from the US lawyers that the bail conditions are becoming more and more onerous," Mr Spragg said. He said the three may have to put up $1 million each for bail, plus sign over their houses as additional security.
Their extradition is going ahead despite pressure from lobby groups, business leaders and the opposition Conservative Party to intervene and have the three prosecuted in Britain.
They are being extradited under a new treaty in force since January 2004 that was originally designed to speed up the extradition of terrorist suspects. The United States has yet to ratify the treaty.