A former executive at the bankrupt energy giant Enron, Mr Michael Kopper, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Mr Kopper is the first person to plead guilty to wrongdoing at Enron, which filed for bankruptcy in a welter of accounting scandals in December of last year.
Mr Kopper, 37, entered his plea in a hearing before US District Judge Ewing Werlein in Houston. He will cooperate with prosecutors as part of a plea agreement.
Mr Kopper, who will be released on a $5 million bond, was the chief lieutenant of former Enron chief financial officer Mr Andrew Fastow and helped his boss run shadowy Enron-related partnerships that hid debt, inflated profits and sparked Enron's fall into bankruptcy.
The deal with prosecutors requires Mr Kopper to surrender $12 million obtained illegally in his dealings with Enron on behalf of the off-the-books partnerships, according to the sources.