Three former bankers surrendered to US marshals at a police station today for extradition to the US to face fraud charges relating to collapsed energy company Enron.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected pleas to halt their extradition,
The extradition of David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew is the first high-profile case under a new extradition treaty with the US in force since January 2004.
It was designed to speed up extradition of terror suspects, but now the US, which has yet to ratify the treaty, is being accused of using it for white-collar crime.
The three bankers, who worked for NatWest Bank, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland, are alleged to have conspired with Enron executives, including former 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.
They have sought to have their case heard in Britain rather than the United States, but no legal proceedings have been taken against them in Britain.
Shortly after the three arrived at the police station they were driven in a van to Gatwick Airport, where they will take a commercial flight to Houston, accompanied by the marshals.
The affair took a dramatic twist on Wednesday with the discovery of a body that media reports said was that of a missing man who had been questioned by the FBI about the case.
The three defendants are seeking bail that will allow them to return to Britain to prepare their cases.