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July 16, 2006 By David Gardner Suicide of banker may wreck US case against NatWest 3; THE suicide of a former treasury head at the Royal Bank of Scotland could wreck the US fraud case against the NatWest Three, it was claimed last night. Neil Coulbeck, 53, worked closely with them and is said to have given the FBI vital evidence about their controversial deal with Enron, the fallen US energy giant. Last night Douglas McNabb, a Houston-based lawyer who gave expert testimony in London in the three bankers' failed case to avoid extradition, told the Sunday Express that Coulbeck's death could be "very damaging" to the US prosecution. He said: "In my view, it is a plus to the defence. I have been told that he had quite a bit of information with regard to testimony about the Three. "The case against them will be weakened because he won't be able to be cross-examined." Mr McNabb, a worldwide authority on international extradition law, said the affidavit submitted by Coulbeck to the FBI and used as part of the US extradition packet will now have to be thrown out. As one of NatWest's most senior executives and the bank's top business manager in the US at the time, Coulbeck would have been privy to information and conversations that were not available to other staff. "Without his evidence, it may be difficult for the US to build the foundation for the case, " said another American lawyer with knowledge of the case. Despite a statement released by the Royal Bank of Scotland denying Mr Coulbeck approved the deal at the heart of the probe, he is said to have had detailed knowledge about the transaction that netted the accused GBP 4.2million. The FBI, who interviewed Mr Coulbeck voluntarily in London in June 2002 as part of the Enron fraud investigation, say the respected banker was not considered a suspect. The latest twist in the controversial Enron fraud case comes after David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew, all 43, faced a judge in Houston, Texas on Friday. They were led into court in shackles the day after their enforced arrival from London and freed on bail until next Friday on condition they wear electronic tags and remain in Houston. Bermingham and Darby each posted bail of GBP 54,000 and Mulgrew put up GBP 12,000 plus shares in Celtic football club. The three have pleaded not guilty to all seven charges of wire fraud. Prosecutors opposed appeals by defence lawyers to allow the men to return home so they can work to pay their legal costs. Instead, the trio spent yesterday shopping for new clothes in Houston. The men had expected harsher treatment following their extradition to the US and failed to bring a change of clothing with them, expecting to be issued with prison boiler suits the moment they arrived in Texas. So after being released on Friday their first stop was the local mall for an unexpected shopping spree. Last night Mr McNabb said he was "cautiously optimistic" the three may be allowed to fly home until their trial. The case against the trio hinges on three faxes and two emails sent between London and Houston that allegedly provide proof of their intent to skim off cash for themselves from their NatWest employers. Although the men were not charged with any crime in the UK, prosecutors say the faxes and the emails - along with two money transfers for $251.993 and $7,352,626 - put the case in US jurisdiction. The trio face seven charges, with federal wire fraud offences punishable by five years in jail for each offence. The Grand Jury indictment says the three men persuaded their then employers, Greenwich NatWest (GNW), a finance division of the bank, to sell its stake in an Enron subsidiary, called Swap Sub, for only $1million when they knew it was worth far more. The file alleges that while urging their employers to accept the knockdown offer, "they were making arrangements to skim for themselves the balance of GNW's Swap Sub interest". With Enron's finance chiefs Michael Kopper and Andrew Fastow, they allegedly concocted a layered deal for Enron to pay Swap Sub $30million, with $20million supposedly going to Greenwich NatWest. But, according to the charges, GNW had already sold its interests to firms controlled by Kopper at Bermingham, Mulgrew and Darby's behest. As part of the pre-arranged deal, it is alleged, the three Britons wired Kopper $251,993 for a stake in Swap Sub in April, 2000. Less than a month later - and after Bermingham had quit his job at GNW - Kopper wired Bermingham, Darby and Mulgrew $7,352,626 (about GBP 4.2million) which they split. The rest of the $20million Enron thought it was paying GNW allegedly went to crooked energy company bosses. The so-called NatWest Three were initially charged in June 2002 and have been fighting extradition right up until Thursday's deadline. All three strongly deny the charges against them. Neil Coulbeck was said to be one of hundreds of people interviewed by the FBI in the fall-out of Enron's collapse in 2001. Described as a deeply principled family man, Coulbeck was head of financial markets in North America for NatWest and, later, the Royal Bank of Scotland between 1992 and 2000. He returned to the UK as head of the bank's group treasury before retiring in 2004. He was said to be unhappy at the prospect of giving evidence against his former colleagues and reportedly complained to friends that he was being "hounded" by American investigators. He is understood to have made a previous suicide attempt. Mystery over Coulbeck's death - said to have been caused by cutting his own throat - escalated after his GBP 700,000 home in Woodford Green, Essex, was searched by police after his body was found on Wednesday. His wife Sue and sons Chris and Ralph issued a statement saying: "Neil was a loving husband and father who led his life in the only way he knew, according to the highest standards of decency, honesty and integrity. "We are all deeply saddened by this sudden and tragic loss." A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers investigating the death are keeping "an open mind" over any links with the Enron case. | |