City bankers face US trial

[emad]

24 May 2005

Three City bankers are to be extradited to the US to face trial over fraud charges relating to the disgraced US energy company Enron.

The decision was made by Home Secretary Charles Clarke and follows an earlier ruling by a judge last October that the three could be extradited.

The three are "devastated but not surprised" and will appeal, their spokeswoman Melanie Riley said.

The extradition of the three falls under legislation which has been in force since January of last year. This was originally designed to speed up the transfer of suspected terrorists to the United States and has limited the Home Secretary's powers to overrule court decisions.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/18838975?source=Reuters&ct=5

[tjwmason]

1. The extradition treaty was simpLy dictated by the State Department

It demonstrates that the U.K. is now LittLe more than a cLient-state of king george's regime.

[sweetheart]

2. It isn't even reciprocal

The treaty only allows the US to try british persons under US law
and not the reverse... tony is a fucked pig... stupid idiot. Sadly
the british people like the moron....

[AP]

3. If UK charges sex tourists in UK courts for crimes comitted in Thailand...

...I have a hard time seeing why, prima facis, Brits who committ crimes that amount to multi-billion dollar thefts of US investors shouldn't be potentially subject to prosecution in US courts.

It seems like this ruling will have a welcome chilling effect on cross-border billion dollar fraud.

These guys do get another appeal, so we'll see where this goes.

[sweetheart]

4. reciprocity is the basis of international law

You extradite your corporate criminals, we'll extradite ours. Rather
the system that TONY signed up to is 1-way towards the USA, where
any british person can be extradited for alleged crimes, but no american
can be.... it smacks of empire. Worse yet, the legal system in the USA
is grossly failed producing injustice most of the time... so better yet
to fuck over the UK population with such agreements. I hope a US
court tries and extradites Tony for war crimes, so he'll get his mistake
whilst being raped and tortured in a US prison.

[AP]

8. Only for treaties. This is a statute. And I doubt the UK has a sex crimes

treaty with Thailand that allows them to try brits in Thailand for sex crimes committed in the UK.

I suspect you don't need to a treaty to have a statute that says you take certain alleged crimes so seriously that you're willing to respect extradition requests that meet some standard, or that you're willing to take jurisdiction over serious crimes occurring outside your borders.

[warrens]

5. UK allows extradition of 3 ex-bankers for Enron

LONDON (Reuters) - The UK is to allow the extradition of three former NatWest bankers to the United States to face trial over fraud charges relating to U.S. energy company Enron.

The three are "devastated but not surprised" and will appeal, said their spokeswoman, Melanie Riley.

Britain's Home Secretary Charles Clarke upheld a ruling by a UK judge last October that the three could be extradited.

The bankers' case falls under UK legislation in force since January of last year, which was originally designed to speed up the transfer of suspected terrorists to the United States.

This law has left the Home Secretary with only limited powers to overrule court decisions on extradition.

SNIP


http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-05-24T143038Z_01_N24292680_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-FINANCIAL-NATWEST-EXTRADITION-DC.XML

[candy]

6. Good! The more of these bastards that go down the better.

[SoCalDem]

7. The only problem I see here is that they have had TIME

and lots of it to stash their ill-gotten loot, and to arrange for their pricey defense. These will be show trials with lots of winking and nodding. The big boys always look out for each other, and when we're talking about the amounts of money these guys skimmed, a little jail time is nothing.

It always amazes me how 'bassackwards' the justice sysem really is.. A poor kid who robs a 7-11 for a few 100 bucks will get the book thrown at him, but rich guys in suits with computers can steam billions, and ruin thousands of people's futures, and they are treated with kid gloves..

[Moderator]

9. kick to combine

[Judi Lynn]

10. Key British official OKs extradition (Enron trial)

May 24, 2005, 11:59PM

Key British official OKs extradition
By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Three British former bankers on Tuesday came a step closer to facing Enron-related fraud charges in a Houston courtroom when England's highest-ranking law enforcement official approved a U.S. request to extradite the men.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby can be sent to the United States to face charges that they worked with former Enron executives Andrew Fastow and Michael Kopper to steal more than $7.3 million from the British men's employer at the time, National Westminster Bank.

In a letter to attorneys for the three, the British government said it is satisfied there are sufficient arrangements between the United States and Great Britain to protect them from additional charges in violation of British law after they are extradited.

Lawyers for the men have said the case should be tried in Britain, because they are British and the offenses they are accused of were allegedly committed against the British bank where they had worked. British authorities have not filed charges against them so far.
(snip)

The case is the first test of a British law designed to make it easier for countries to extradite criminal suspects. The law was designed initially for terrorism suspects.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3197223
(Free registration is required)

[Judi Lynn]

11. Case puts focus on Enron stock:Shares jumped in heavy trading as analysts

May 24, 2005, 11:48PM

Case puts focus on Enron stock
Shares jumped in heavy trading as analysts met
By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES

Five from Enron Broadband Services are accused of systematically lying to investors and the public about the value and capabilities of the business, including its deal with Blockbuster Video. Former co-CEO Ken Rice and former COO Kevin Hannon have struck plea bargains.

Enron stock took one of its biggest jumps and had two of its heaviest trading days surrounding an analyst conference that's key to the prosecution's allegations, jurors in the Enron Internet division criminal trial learned Tuesday.

At issue is whether three of the former executives of Enron Broadband Services misled analysts on Jan. 20, 2000, about the capabilities of the broadband business, helping to boost Enron's stock price and later making millions of dollars selling their own shares.

In a nearly three-year period before Enron began its death spiral, the analysts conference accounted for two of the top five volume trading days for the stock, said Peter Melley, who aids in criminal cases for NASD, an association of brokers.
Under questioning from federal prosecutor Ben Campbell, Melley said the day of the conference showed a $13.12 per share increase, the biggest disparity from January 1999 through the end of August 2001. He did not include the end of 2001 when Enron's stock took a steep dive.

Former EBS executives Joe Hirko, Scott Yeager and Rex Shelby, accused of lying about the capabilities of EBS technology, are charged with insider trading of $160 million in stock.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3197222
(Free registration is required)