Three former NatWest investment bankers were hours away from extradition to the US on Enron-related fraud charges last night, as political controversy over their case deepened and a possible witness was found dead.
Police confirmed that a body, believed to be that of Neil Coul-beck, a former head of group treasury at the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest's parent company, had been discovered in a park in east London. Formal identification will take place today.
It was a tragic twist to the continuing political storm surrounding the trio's extradition. They have become the highest profile targets in the apparent attempt by US authorities to use recently amended extradition arrangements to pursue alleged perpetrators of white collar crimes.
The men are due to turn themselves in at a police station in the early hours of this morning. They will then be handed over to US officials and flown to the US later in the day, although it could take months, even several years, before they are brought to trial on seven counts of wire fraud.
As the pressure on Tony Blair over the extradition intensified, the prime minister tried to draw the sting by telling MPs that there had been contact between the attorney-general and the US Department ot Justice over the question of bail arrangements for the three former bankers, and some assurances received.
"The American prosecutors will not oppose bail as long as the appropriate conditions are put in place by the court or are agreed by the defendants," he said. The Department of Justice declined to comment.
Mr Coulbeck, in his early 50s, had worked in the US as RBS's head of financial markets for North America until 2001. He returned to London to take on the job of head of group treasury later that year. Mr Coulbeck's
death is now under investigation by the Metropolitan Police's .homicide and serious crime unit.
The banker is believed to have given evidence to the US authorities about the Enron fraud case. However, it is understood that he was interviewed several years ago and would not have been one of the chief witnesses in the forthcoming trial in Houston of the former NatWest trio - David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew.
Yesterday, RBS also stressed that there was "no evidence that Mr Coulbeck was involved in the approval of the transaction under investigation in the fraud case".
"RBS has co-operated fully with all the appropriate authorities and made them fully aware of all the relevant facts in our possession. Nell was highly regarded by colleagues here in RBS and was a respected, capable and hard-working member of our senior management team."
Mr Bermingham said of Mr Coulbeck yesterday: "He was a superstar - a thoroughly decent, honest professional guy, and a very experienced banker.
"He was one of a number of NatWest people who made short witness statements that were included in our extradition pack... NeiVs statement was no more than a page and a half, saying who he was and his role."
Separately, members of parliament voted to adjourn the Commons early yesterday following a heated three-hour emergency debate over the controversial UK-US extradition arrangements.