Three former Natwest bankers are each expected to serve 37 months in jail after pleading guilty to an Enron-related fraud in a deal with US prosecutors.
David Bermingham (45), Gary Mulgrew (45), and Giles Darby (45) were all extradited to the United States 17 months ago. They told the US district court in Houston, Texas, they wanted to change their plea to guilty yesterday following a deal with prosecutors.
Under the agreement, which has yet to be accepted by the judge, the men would all serve 37 months behind bars and pay back a total of $7.3 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest's successor.
In return for the guilty pleas to one count of wire fraud, US prosecutors would ask for the six other counts to be dismissed and support the trio's bid to "serve some of the sentence" in the United Kingdom.
The three men admitted advising their former employer NatWest to sell part of a company owned by collapsed US giant Enron for less than it was worth.
They then left the bank and bought a stake in the company, Swap Sub, which they then sold on for a huge profit, making around $7.3 million themselves.