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

To: stockman_scott who wrote (2470)	8/22/2002 10:59:12 AM
From: opalapril	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3602

Nothing new in the defense attorney's remarks. It's to be expected. But it does suggest a new avenue for criminal prosecution: theft-by-deception. Apparently, Lay and Fastow were getting paid millions annually to run a company they knew nothing about and were incompetent to manage.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (2470)	8/22/2002 11:39:37 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 3602

Justice Department aims for Enron's former CFO US seeks to seize $22.1 million By Ted Bridis, Associated Press, 8/22/2002 boston.com WASHINGTON - Winning the guilty plea of an important former Enron Corp. insider, the Justice Department yesterday set sights on its biggest target yet in the massive fraud investigation: Enron's former chief financial officer. As part of its plea agreement with Michael J. Kopper, the government sought yesterday to seize $22.1 million in bank accounts that prosecutors alleged contain money from illegal Enron deals largely organized by Kopper and Andrew S. Fastow, Enron's former financial officer. Specialists described the move as an unusually aggressive legal strategy typically employed against drug dealers. The amount includes $12.8 million in accounts held by Fastow and family members, along with Fastow's $1.3 million, four-bedroom home in Houston. Fastow, who left Enron in October 2001, has not been indicted or charged with any crime. He has declined to testify before Congress. A spokesman for Fastow, Gordon Andrew, said yesterday that Fastow will ''respond at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum.'' The forfeiture request, filed in US District Court in Houston, came as part of a plea agreement formalized yesterday with Kopper, once a trusted aide to Fastow. Kopper was at the crux of at least three partnerships that conducted complicated business deals with Enron. The partnerships were portrayed to investors and US regulators as outside entities but secretly had too-close ties to Enron. Deputy US Attorney General Larry Thompson, who announced Kopper's guilty plea in Washington, said those deals ''made Enron appear more profitable to Wall Street and, in one instance, disguised Enron's regulatory violations.'' Kopper pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one money-laundering charge. US officials said he faces up to 15 years in prison, though Kopper agreed to give up $12 million in illegal profits and cooperate in the government's continuing criminal probe of Enron's spectacular collapse. Kopper's $12 million, plus the $22.1 million from bank accounts owned by others, would be used to repay investors defrauded by Enron, officials said. Details of that distribution were still being worked out, although the amount represents just a fraction of the amount lost by investors. ''The money would be put in a court registry awaiting a plan of distribution, and that will happen some time in the future,'' said Stephen Cutler, head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specialists said Kopper's plea was significant because it signals the government's interest in understanding and prosecuting others who participated in those controversial deals, whose disclosures in late 2001 led to Enron's bankruptcy. Prosecutors in court papers tied Kopper's roles in those deals closely to Fastow, and said Kopper distributed profits to Fastow, Fastow's wife, and other family members. ''The action against Mr. Kopper is an important chapter in the story of Enron's collapse, but much of the story remains untold,'' Cutler said. ''This case is but a first step, albeit a vital one, in our effort to hold responsible and to bring to justice those who participated in this massive betrayal of the investing public's trust.'' The lawyer of Kenneth Lay, former Enron chairman, said yesterday his client didn't personally know Kopper. Michael Ramsey, Lay's attorney, told Fox News that Lay wasn't worried at all about Kopper's plea agreement. This story ran on page C2 of the Boston Globe on 8/22/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.