U.S. Uses Law to Nab British Businessmen

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. Uses Law to Nab British Businessmen By JANE WARDELL, AP Business Writer
9 minutes ago

LONDON - When Britain signed a treaty with the United States in 2003 that drastically reduced the evidence required from U.S. officials seeking to extradite suspected felons, the British government said it was all about speeding up the process of bringing terrorists to justice.

What few expected to see was U.S. authorities using the law to pursue senior executives — whose alleged offenses either took place mostly in Britain or were not even crimes here — alongside of the likes of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the hook-handed preacher wanted on terrorism charges.

Yet that is what has happened to three NatWest bankers — David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Derby — who are facing charges in a $19.4 million fraud case arising from the Enron Corp. collapse, and to Ian Norris, the former chief executive of investment firm Morgan Crucible, who faces price-fixing charges.

Legal experts have cried foul because the treaty is not reciprocal. The United States has signed it, but the Senate has not yet ratified it while groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union lobby against it.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050717/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_us_extraditing_executives;_ylt=AhYHJ2J7QatsAXJBwjfltjOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-

[OKthatsIT]

1. I dont know if I should jump for joy or scream in rage, here

damned if you do and damed if you dont...you know?