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“Bargain” sentences for NatWest Three

Lawyers have questioned the use of plea bargain agreements after the formal sentencing of the NatWest Three to 37 months’ imprisonment in the US. Former bankers David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew reached a plea bargain agreement with US prosecutors over their role in the conspiracy to defraud the bank of $19m. The trio were extradited to the US under the Extradition Act 2003 after the fraud came to light in the Enron collapse. Gary Summers, barrister at Seven Bedford Row, says that “cowed by the US federal sentencing guidelines and facing many years in prison on conviction”, the men’s decision to cut and run was a no-brainer. He says: “Contemplating contesting a case where the factual architecture was not capable of serious dispute but where dishonesty was hotly contested and facing Andrew Fastow [a ‘US co-operator’ and also the subject of a plea bargain arrangement] in court, made the legal advice tendered to them utterly predictable. A return to the UK in nine months, an open prison and tagging on release will no doubt sweeten the pill.”

Ellen Zeisler, a solicitor at Corker Binning Solicitors, says: “The uproar surrounding the NatWest Three focused on the UK’s unilateral extradition arrangement with the US and cleverly avoided the question of guilt or innocence. It is surprising how public sympathy can be garnered by focusing on the unfairness of the extradition procedures while brushing aside such issues.”

She says the trial’s outcome was unsurprising when considered in relation to the size of the fraud and the power of the plea bargain in the US.

“When faced with 35 years’ imprisonment it is not surprising that a deal was cut to limit that exposure. While the potential penalty seems vast, the end result is a sentence not unlike an outcome we could see in the UK for conspiracy to defraud,” she says.

“In the UK where sentences for fraud vary according to the facts of each case and lack a certain predictability, 37 months’ imprisonment would not be shocking on the facts, which are that the three defendants profited some $7.3m in total,” Zeisler adds.

UK role in “torture flights” questioned

Human rights groups have called for a full investigation into the UK’s role in rendition flights after the foreign secretary, David Miliband, admitted last week that two flights had stopped for refuelling in the British overseas territory of Diego Garcia, contrary to “earlier explicit assurances” from US authorities. Both Miliband and the US administration confirmed that two planes had been involved in the transfer of detainees to the GuantanamoBay detention facility, where they faced secret interrogation. Referring in the House of Commons to new information supplied by the US government, the foreign secretary apologised to Parliament, saying a list of all flights concerning rendition would be compiled.

He went on to say, however, that it was “clear that there must and will continue to be the strongest possible intelligence and counter- terrorism relationship with the US, consistent with UK law and our international obligations”.

However, Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty, is critical of the government’s decision to suggest a lack of communication was responsible for earlier denials. “It is far too easy for our government to blame the Americans for lack of information, particularly as Liberty has been asking the Foreign Office to investigate US torture flights for more than two years,” she says.

Liberty is also calling for measures to be implemented to prevent future illegal flights. Chakrabarti says: “The first step must be to ensure we are never party to the shame that is extraordinary rendition ever again, the second must be a full and proper investigation a lot closer to home. Then we can perhaps begin to forge a new ‘special relationship’ with our cousins across the Atlantic at this historic moment in their political history.” Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty International, says the admission highlights the need for a full investigation into US detention and rendition practices and of any complicity from European nations. “European governments must recognise that reliance on US assurances about renditions has been an inadequate response to an unlawful practice. The Diego Garcia admission must spur into action all European countries by initiating thorough, independent investigations. Governments must also take immediate steps to ensure that the practice of rendition is not allowed to happen again,” she says.