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Non-Tech : The Enron Scandal - Unmoderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (2462)	8/20/2002 6:12:44 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3602

Reuters Business Report - Former Enron Exec Kopper to Plead Guilty Tuesday August 20, 5:30 pm Eastern Time WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Enron Corp. (Other OTC:ENRNQ.PK - News) executive Michael Kopper is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to the first criminal charges in the investigation into the failed energy giant and will surrender $12 million in "criminally derived" assets, sources close to the investigation said on Tuesday. These are the first criminal charges in the U.S. government's investigation into Enron, which was launched after the company collapsed last fall amid controversy. Although U.S. investigators have made several high-profile arrests of top executives of other companies accused of corporate wrongdoing, they had yet to charge anyone connected to Enron. Kopper worked in the company's Enron Global Finance division and was closely connected to the failed energy giant's former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow. He was considered Fastow's chief lieutenant in managing numerous off-balance-sheet partnerships that eventually helped destroy Enron. It was widely expected that someone close to Fastow would face charges before the former CFO -- or any of the company's other senior officials -- were charged. In so doing, prosecutors may attempt to gain co-operation in subsequent cases against Enron's most senior executives. Kopper will plead guilty in Houston on Wednesday morning to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the sources said. As part of the deal he will also surrender the $12 million. Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, wiping out thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in equity, shaking investor confidence and triggering investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Congress, and the Justice Department. Kopper's attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment. A Justice Department spokesman would not comment. The Powers Report, an internal investigation by Enron directors, blamed Fastow for creating and managing the partnerships, but made clear that Kopper was right beside him in negotiating the complicated transactions that brought windfalls to both of them and other employees. Kopper was believed to have earned more than $10 million from the secret partnerships, on whose behalf he often negotiated when in discussions with Enron. Fastow did much the same, working both sides of the deals until Enron decided he could no longer be the general partner of a key off-balance-sheet partnership, LJM II. In one partnership, known as "Chewco," Kopper earned $10 million from Enron for a $125,000 investment. He also was instrumental in a partnership named "Southampton Place," so named for the swanky area of Houston where he and Fastow lived. He sold his interest in LJM to Kopper in July 2001, which allowed Enron to avert -- temporarily -- the problem of having a top executive running an outside partnership rife with conflicts of interest. Kopper left Enron at the same time to run LJM, which he since lost control of in legal battles. biz.yahoo.com