Bankers Plead Guilty in Enron Case

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

HOUSTON (AP) — Three British bankers who were set to go to trial for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow changed their pleas to guilty Wednesday.

David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew originally pleaded not guilty to seven counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors alleged that they colluded with Fastow in a secret financial scam in 2000 to enrich themselves at their employers' expense.

They were set to go on trial in January, but each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in a court hearing before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr.

The three former executives at Greenwich NatWest, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, became a cause celebre in Britain throughout extradition proceedings that lasted two years.

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