[JURIST] The UK High Court [UK Court Service website] on Tuesday rejected a bid by three UK bankers to halt their extradition to the US to face fraud charges in connection with the Enron [JURIST news archive] scandal. The British government ordered the extradition of David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew, former Natwest [corporate website] bank executives, after they were indicted [PDF text] in Texas on charges that they aided Enron in an off-the-books partnership deal.

The High Court held that the extradition was proper because the charges had a substantial connection to events and people in the US. The case is the first to be evaluated under the new Extradition Act [text], an agreement between the US and UK that uses a lower evidentiary burden in evaluating extradition requests. Bloomberg has more.

Previously on JURIST's Paper Chase…

• UK court hears Enron extradition appeal
• Three UK bankers to be extradited to US for Enron scandal involvement
• UK bankers allowed to challenge extradition in Enron case
• UK Home Secretary given extension on Enron extradition decision
• UK bankers linked to Enron scandal may be extradited to US, judge rules