Dead banker was ‘hounded’ by FBI

THE FBI has been accused of “hounding” a British banker who was found dead yesterday.

Neil Coulbeck, a former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) executive, had given evidence to the US law enforcement agency about an alleged fraud case involving the so-called NatWest Three who are wanted for extradition on fraud charges.

He disappeared from his home in Woodford Green, east London, last Thursday and his body was found by a dog walker in nearby parkland yesterday.

The NatWest Three are accused of cheating the bank that used to employee them out of millions of pounds.

David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby are alleged to have advised Greenwich NatWest, the subsidiary of NatWest where they worked, to sell off its stake in an Enron business in 2000 at well below its market value.

Then, it is claimed, they left the bank and bought a $250,000 stake in the unit, which they sold on at a significantly higher price to make a total of $7.3million.

The director of civil rights group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, said: “I am troubled by reports from Mr Coulbeck’s friends that he was hounded by the FBI.

“I have been told that he had been interviewed more than once by the FBI and was under pressure partly for this reason. Clearly, we do not know the full circumstances of this tragedy at this stage.”

The dead man was found in parkland between a golf course and a wood near his home. He is thought to have taken his own life.