Former Enron finance officer faces new charges

US federal prosecutors pursuing former Enron chief financial officer Mr Andrew Fastow have said they will file more charges by…

US federal prosecutors pursuing former Enron chief financial officer Mr Andrew Fastow have said they will file more charges by next month.

Although the Justice Department's Enron Task Force has declined to comment, sources have indicated the new indictment may include charges against other Enron finance executives referred to in the original charges, and others.

Mr Fastow pleaded not guilty on November 6th to a 78-count indictment charging him with fraud and money laundering, all of it centred on a series of secretive off-balance sheet partnerships he controlled as Enron's top money man.

Prosecutors allege he used the partnerships to defraud Enron of tens of millions of dollars that he then took for himself, family members and other associates. Enron, meanwhile, benefited because Nr Fastow was able to hide losses and manipulate earnings through his string of partnerships, it is claimed.

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Other Fastow associates who are widely seen as likely additions to a superseding indictment are former chief accounting officer Mr Richard Causey and former treasurer Mr Ben Glisan. Neither has yet been charged with any crime.

The two men are referred to only by their titles in the original Fastow charges, which detail a scheme whereby the three allegedly used a secret partnership to cook Enron's books and manufacture earnings for Mr Fastow's main partnership, called LJM.

The task force has also long been known to be pressuring Mr Fastow's wife, who was an assistant treasurer at Enron and benefited from some of the alleged schemes.

Mr Fastow's former lieutenant, Mr Michael Kopper, pleaded guilty in August to fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges.