Gary Mulgrew

Mr Mulgrew, a 45-year old Glaswegian, was a bouncer at a Scottish nightclub before gaining a marketing degree from Strathclyde University and entering the world of finance.

He was immortalised in the novel The Pursuit of Happiness, a thinly-veiled account of the high octane world of banking, written by a former colleague of his at Greenwich NatWest, the investment banking subsidiary of NatWest where Mr Mulgrew ran the structured finance division and where the alleged fraudulent transaction took place. Like Mr Mulgrew, the Scottish character Braveheart in the book was an avid Celtic fan, organised five-a-side football games and enjoyed wining and dining contacts lavishly.

A divorced father of two, Mr Mulgrew is the son of Trish Godman, an MSP and a former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, and was living in Brighton, Sussex, before his extradition. He worked at NatWest for 19 years in London, Tokyo and Connecticut.

Just before he was extradited, Mr Mulgrew, a blunt Scot with a sharp mind, told newspapers: "I’ve been crying like a big girl. I can’t help it. I’m a Celt. We let it all hang out."

Giles Darby

Mr Darby, 45, was born in India where his father was a diplomat and joined NatWest straight from school at age 17, where he started as a bank teller.

A father of two young children by his wife Deborah, a Reiki therapist who specialises in helping people relax and cope with stress, with three other children from a previous marriage.

Mr Darby is the inspiration for the character of the Energiser Bunny in The Pursuit of Happiness because of his limitless dynamism. He is best friends with Mr Mulgrew and, before his extradition, he was living in Lower Wraxall, a hamlet outside Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire.

He was an avid football player and one of the stars of the NatWest team.

David Bermingham

Mr Bermingham, 45, has three young children by his wife Emma, whom he met 14 years ago when she was in marketing and he had left the Army for the City. A strong Catholic and an avid Arsenal fan, Mr Bermingham was living in a mock castle in the picturesque village of Goring, close to the River Thames in Oxfordshire, before his extradition to the US.

A keen rower and Ruby enthusiast, Mr Bermingham is regarded as the most posh of the NatWest Three and once described his occupation as "working as a boring banker in the City" on the FriendsReunited social networking site.

Mrs Bermingham, the daughter of a judge, has described her husband as driven, determined, straight and principled, adding that "he’s not your typical investment banker".

In the Pursuit of Happiness, Mr Bermingham is characterised as Charlie Bristols, a man who wades through the small print.

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