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The former bankers known as the NatWest Three have been sentenced to 37 months in jail for their part in an Enron-related fraud.

Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew pleaded guilty in November last year to conspiring with the former finance chief at Enron, Andrew Fastow, to swindle NatWest out of more than $7.3 million (£3.7 million).

Judge Ewing Werlein sentenced the trio at a court in Houston today.

He ordered the former bankers to pay back all the money as a way to "regain their respect".

The judge claimed though that he had been impressed with the three men and said: "I wish you well in your future endeavours and I'm confident we well never see you before a court again."

The three bankers worked for a subsidiary of NatWest in 2000 when they managed to convince the bank to sell its stake in LJM Cayman, an Enron venture, for a fraction of its value.

They however failed to mention that they all had personnel interests in the buyer of the stake, who then in turn, sold it for a massive profit.

Bermingham said in the court today: "My conduct in this matter fell well below the standards expected."

Equally, Mulgrew said his actions had "lacked integrity" and apologised "unreservedly".

Darby also said: "I failed to take the right course of action and I deeply regret that."

The case had previously caused considerable opposition to Britain's extradition treaty with the US, after the three men were forced to leave the UK to stand trial in the US.

The men were eventually extradited in July 2006 after long and vocal media campaign to block the move.