Case No. CO-934-2005-&-CO-3620-2005

INTRODUCTORY1.There are two sets of proceedings before the court, an application for judicial review and a statutory appeal. Both are brought by the same three persons. The context of both is an accusation of fraud which has been levelled against all three by the federal prosecuting authorities in Texas. Though they are the protagonists in the proceedings, for convenience I shall call the three the defendants. (When I refer to them individually I shall for economy’s sake simply use their surnames; I intend no discourtesy.) The judicial review, for which permission was granted by myself and David Steel J on 7 April 2005 after an oral and contested hearing, is brought against the refusal of the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (“the Director”) to institute a criminal investigation under s.1(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“the 1987 Act”). The statutory appeal, or more accurately appeals, are levelled against decisions of a District Judge and an order of the Secretary of State for the defendants’ extradition to the United States of America following a request in that behalf by United States federal authorities. The decisions and order were made, and the appeals are brought, pursuant to provisions contained in the Extradition Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”). I shall introduce all the relevant statutory materials directly. My Lord Ouseley J and I heard argument in the judicial review over two days on 15 and 16 November 2005, and reserved judgment. We then heard the statutory appeals over three days from 28 – 30 November. This is my composite judgment in both sets of proceedings.