To many other passengers on the plane to Houston, the men sitting in rows 43, 44 and 45 were just another group of travellers. The appearance of two television camera crews led to a flurry of speculation: there must be celebrities on board. But a trawl through faces failed to identify anyone and the excitement passed.

David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew are not sportsmen or pop stars. But they have become famous recently as they used a public relations campaign to fight extradition to the United States on fraud charges related to the 2001 collapse of Enron, the US energy company. All three deny any wrongdoing.

The case of the NatWest Three, as the former bankers are known, has united civil liberties groups and City magnates. It has also brought opprobrium on the British government, damaged America’s reputation in the UK over a flawed extradition treaty, raised questions about whether British law enforcement controls white-collar crime adequately — and might have led to the apparent suicide last week of a fourth banker.

Having lost their four-year battle against extradition, Bermingham, Darby and Mulgrew reported to Croydon police on Thursday at 6am, after tearful goodbyes from their families. They were taken in a van with blacked-out windows to Gatwick airport. Six US marshals led them onto Continental Airlines flight CO35 before other passengers boarded.

For nearly 11 hours they sat in separate rows at the back, with marshals on either side. Darby mostly slept. Bermingham read a paperback. Mulgrew sat upright, his tall frame towering above the seats, his face expressionless.

They knew what awaited them in Houston, the Texan city where Enron was based until it collapsed in 2001 in the greatest corporate scandal of recent times.

Proportionately far more Americans than Britons are shareholders, which is why the US Department of Justice takes a strong line on corporate crime. Unlike some Britons, Americans do not regard white-collar crime as “victimless”. Just ask the many former Enron shareholders and employees.

When Ken Lay, Enron’s founder, died this month — before being sentenced for his part in the scandal — some wondered if his death was as questionable as his accounting. On the Houston Chronicle website, one resentful Texan wrote: “I think they need to bring (Lay’s) body back down to Houston and prop him up in front of the big building they built for Enron so we can all make sure he is really dead. Also, maybe sell like tickets to smack him around a bit and give the proceeds to charity.”

It was no surprise then when the three suspects were taken into Houston’s federal courthouse shackled hand and foot. The “perp (perpetrator) walk” has become standard procedure when executives are charged. Seven big fraud cases have led to convictions in the past 18 months alone.

The trio were fingerprinted, strip-searched, kitted out in green jumpsuits (indicating foreign nationals) and escorted to detention — not the poky cells that their PR men had predicted, but a Houston hotel.

When they appeared in court next day — in their own clothes — the judge granted bail but confiscated their passports. Yesterday they were allowed to go shopping. On Friday the judge will consider whether they can return to Britain pending trial.

In all the furore over the extradition, the question of their innocence or guilt has been pushed to one side. What are they accused of?

They are alleged to have colluded with Andrew Fastow, Enron’s chief financial officer, and Michael Kopper, his right-hand man, to defraud their employers.

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