UK bank pledges to co-operate in Enron probe
A British bank today said it would co-operate with the investigation into collapsed US energy giant Enron after three former employees were charged over a multi-million pound fraud.
Gary Steven Mulgrew, aged 40, Giles Robert Darby, aged 40 and David John Bermingham, aged 39, who all worked for Greenwich NatWest, were charged by the US Justice Department in Houston over an alleged €7.4m scheme involving Enron.
The ex-bank officers are accused of secretly investing in an Enron entity through a series of financial transactions.
With the investments, they were able to siphon off €7.4m in income that belonged to their employer, a division of NatWest with offices in Connecticut and London, the Justice Department alleges.
Greenwich NatWest, the merchant banking division of NatWest, is now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Howard Moody, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s group director of communications, said: "As the three ex-Greenwich NatWest employees are subject to criminal proceedings it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.
"Naturally we will monitor the criminal proceedings carefully and we will continue to co-operate with the appropriate authorities involved in the Enron investigation."
At the time of the alleged fraud, NatWest was considered a "Tier one" bank by Enron, which meant that it was among a small group that did the most business with the company and was given preferential treatment on transactions.
Prosecutors claim that some Enron executives were able to more than double amounts less than £350,000 (€539,000)by using the method the bankers are accused of.
The US government also alleges that the three men recommended that an interest in an Enron-related partnership held by NatWest should be sold for £700,000 (€1.07m) even as they schemed with Enron executives to purchase that interest for £163,600 (€252,000).
The men are charged with wire fraud, or using the telephone, fax, Internet, radio or television to carry out a scheme or plan to defraud an individual or group.
