Any news on Thomas White? I was away for awhile. I can't believe White still has a job as head of Army.
White headed up a company at Enron that never produced anything, didn't he?
Plus, there were many other complaints about him.
Here is an older article:
FBI Enron investigation reaches into
Bush administration links
From Conor O'Clery, International Business Editor, on Wall Street
ireland.com
The FBI investigation into Enron has reached into the Bush
administration, with federal agents interviewing friends and former
colleagues of US Army Secretary Thomas White, who was 11
years an Enron executive, on possible insider trading.
Mr White has become something of an embarrassment to the
White House as he is also facing questions over his use of a
Pentagon aircraft for personal business, namely making a side trip
to Aspen, Colorado to complete the sale of a $6.5 million (€7.38
million) holiday home.
Mr White sold 400,000 shares of Enron for $12.1 million between
June and October last year, and the FBI investigation centres on
whether he asked for or used inside information on the deteriorating
financial situation inside the now-bankrupt energy trader.
In the 10 months from the time he became a member of President
George Bush's defence team until the company crashed on
December 2nd in the biggest bankruptcy in history, Mr White had
73 contacts with Enron people, most in the last four months.
According to evidence he gave to Congressional officials, Mr White
said he spoke to or met several top Enron executives, including
then CEO Kenneth Lay, in September and October.
In October, as the financial condition of the Houston-based firm
worsened, Mr White sold half his Enron stock for $3.08 million, the
Wall Street Journal reported. He unloaded almost 100,000 more
shares just before Enron disclosed that the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an investigation.
While the FBI investigation may clear Mr White, it is an
uncomfortable reminder to electors of the extraordinarily close ties
between the administration and the Texas company whose
collapse hurt investors and employees and all but brought down its
auditors, Arthur Andersen.
Mr Lay was Mr Bush's biggest single donor during his presidential
election campaign, and Enron funded hundreds of members of
Congress, the majority of them Republicans.
Mr White has said he never sold stock based on what anyone told
him at Enron, and that the contacts were made out of concern for
his friends and former colleagues. He has denied knowledge of the
partnerships set up by Enron to inflate earnings.
The partnerships are being investigated to establish if they were
part of a massive securities fraud at Enron. The FBI and the SEC
are both seeking evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the case of one
partnership called JEDI, the New York Times reported yesterday.
Videotapes meanwhile have surfaced showing how closely Enron
was linked to its auditors. Enron's chief risk officer, Mr Richard
Buy, is recorded as saying in one tape that "Arthur Andersen's
penetration or involvement in the company is probably different than
anything I've experienced," adding, "They are kind of everywhere
and in everything."
o John Hancock Financial Services has filed a lawsuit against
directors of Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen, as the life
insurer looks to claw back investment losses it suffered as the
energy trader collapsed. John Hancock, with about $215 million
invested in Enron, mostly in private debt, has sued 27 Enron
directors.
ireland.com |
