After more than two years awaiting trial in the US on Enron-related charges, three British bankers pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to one count each of wire fraud.
In an agreement reached with the government, the bankers -- Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew, all 45 years old -- acknowledged conspiring with Enron's chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, to enrich themselves at the expense of the UK's National Westminster Bank, which was then their employer and is now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The three men were indicted on seven counts of wire fraud in 2002, and a jury trial was set for January. They faced 35 years in prison. In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors will now recommend 37 months.
The bankers' lawyers said they would ask the court to allow them to serve at least part of their sentence in Britain so they can be near their families.
"Today is an important step -- not the last -- in bringing this terrible ordeal to an end," the three men said in a joint statement released after the hearing.
The statement added that they "look forward to working closely with the British and US governments" to be transferred home promptly.
The case prompted an emergency session of parliament and street protests last year when the three men, called the NatWest Three by the British tabloids, were extradited to the US.
Judge Ewing Werlein of theUS District Court sternly advised the men that it was up to him whether to approve the terms of the plea agreement. In addition to the jail time, the men agreed to compensate Royal Bank of Scotland US$7.3 million, the same amount they now admit to fraudulently acquiring.
During the hearing, a lawyer detailed how the men advised NatWest to sell its stake in an Enron shell company for less than it was worth.
They then bought that stake themselves and flipped it for a profit of US$7.3 million.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS