Timeline of the Enron scandal
Encyclopedia
1985
Kenneth LayKenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
seized control in 1985 of HNG/Internorth created by the merger of Houston Natural Gas
Houston Natural Gas
Houston Natural Gas Company was a gas utility headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was acquired by InterNorth Inc. in 1985, with HNG executives taking top positions at InterNorth. Following the transaction, InterNorth was renamed Enron Corporation, and the company headquarters was moved...
and the much larger and more diversified InterNorth
InterNorth
InterNorth Inc. was a very large energy company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, specializing in natural gas pipelines but also a force in the plastics industry, coal and petroleum exploration and production. They operated the largest natural gas pipeline in North America...
, which combined four natural gas pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
companies, Northern Natural Gas, Transwestern Pipeline, Florida Gas Transmission
Florida Gas Transmission
Florida Gas Transmission is a natural gas pipeline which brings gas from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama into Florida. It is owned 50% by Southern Union Company and 50% by El Paso Corporation's Southern Natural Gas unit. Its FERC code is 34....
, and Houston Pipeline company. Lay was the third CEO of the combined company, preceded by Sam F. Segnar and Willis Strauss.
1986
Under Lay there was a long succession of business failures and missteps and according to many financial analysts, the company was swimming in debt. Lay sells off several profitable operations including Northern Petrochemical, PEAK anti-freeze, EVAL resins which makes plastic food packaging possible and brought in silent partnerships in Northern Liquid Fuels, Northern Natural Resources and Northern Engineering, Enron Oil Trading and Transport, Enron Exploration and Enron Cogeneration thus hiding burgeoning debt. Many layoffs and assets sales follow.1987
Lou Borget of Enron Oil Trading is convicted of money laundering and fraud costing Enron shareholders about sixty-four million dollars. Mike Muckleroy, Enron Vice Chairman, later testifies in "The ENRON Movie" that Lay strongly supported and encouraged the Borget operation. Several high level Enron execs "fall on their swords" for Lay including Mick Seidl.1988
The socialistSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
government of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
seize Belnorth holdings in that country which are owned by Enron. The insurance companies that guaranteed those assets return the premiums to Lay citing questionable dealing in the country. A settlement is negotiated for far less than the insured amount.
Irwin Jacobs of Minneapolis makes an arbitrage
Arbitrage
In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices...
effort against ENRON. Lay seizes funds from the employee stock ownership program to buy back Jacobs stock giving Jacobs a huge profit and then freezes the ESOP for seven years denying employees access to their stock.
1990
Jeff Skilling joins Enron Corp after leaving the failed bank, First City Bank of Houston which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
for insolvency.
He is named Chief Executive Officer of Enron Finance Corp. He hires Andrew Fastow
Andrew Fastow
Andrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
, a former employee of the failed Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company
Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company
The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was at one time the seventh-largest bank in the United States as measured by deposits with approximately $40 billion in assets. In 1984, Continental Illinois became the largest ever bank failure in U.S. history, when a run on the bank led to...
.
1993
April: Enron's Teesside power plant in England begins Operation, one of the first big successes for the company's international strategy. The international strategy included propane processing and marketing in Venezuela and Puerto Rico and a manufacturing partnership with GE in South America.December: Enron and Government of Maharashtra reach agreement to build the massive Dabhol power plant which never operates when ENRON is still in business. There are reports that ENRON uses thugs to intimidate Indian political opposition to the deal. Tom White
Thomas E. White
Thomas E. White, Jr. is an American businessman and former United States Army officer who served as senior executive at the now collapsed Enron and as the United States Secretary of the Army from May 31, 2001 until April 25, 2003.-Military career and education:In 1963 White graduated from Cass...
, United States Secretary of the Army
United States Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official within the Department of Defense of the United States of America with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and...
from May 31, 2001 until April 25, 2003, is involved in the scandal and later is accused of cooking the books at Enron Energy Services and lying to Congress about his Enron holdings.
1996
Andrew FastowAndrew Fastow
Andrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
constructs off-book entities in which Enron would make deals with these companies and then Enron would transfer its debt into those companies while at the same time, Fastow and other Senior execs, with their respective companies, would also be taking money out of those companies from the Enron transactions. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B11FF34590C758CDDAB0894DA404482 http://www.uaw.org/atissue/02/021102rouleau.html
Chief Operating Officer Richard Kinder announces that he'll leave the company. In December, Skilling Becomes Enron's President and COO.
1997
Andrew Fastow creates ChewcoChewco
Chewco Investments L. P., was a limited partnership associated with the Enron scandal, which resulted in the bankruptcy of Enron. It was named after the Star Wars character Chewbacca, because it was created to hide losses from the Joint Energy Development Investment Limited, known by its acronym...
(managed by Enron's Michael Kopper) in an effort to hide debt and inflate profits, but Chewco doesn't meet requirements to keep it off Enron's balance sheet.
Enron closes its acquisition of Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric is an electrical utility based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon...
in a 2 billion dollar stock swap.
Enron and UNOCAL executives along with the then governor of Texas, George W. Bush met with the Taliban in Houston to discuss a trans-Afghan pipeline project to bring Caspian Sea petroleum to the Indian subcontinent, partially to supply the Dabhol, India power plant with a cheap source of fuel.
1998
Enron enters into several capital intensive ventures that turn into financial disasters including a water distribution scheme and power plants in BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Enron promotes Andrew Fastow to Chief Financial Officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
.
Enron buys Wessex Water, a British water utility. Wessex become Enron's new water unit, Azurix.
1999
Enron board of directors waive conflict of interestConflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
rules in order to allow Andrew Fastow to run private companies that do business with Enron. He creates LJM that buys poorly performing Enron assets. In reality, LJM is used to hide debt and inflate profits for Enron in order to prop up its stock price. It is believed that this is the beginning of the complex and questionable accounting practices that lead to Enron's demise.
Enron withdraws from oil and gas productions by divesting its remaining stake in Enron Oil & Gas.
Enron announces the launch of EnronOnline, its internet-based commodity trading.
2000
Enron launches EnronCredit.com which buys and sells credit risk to help companies manage the risk in trading.Enron and Blockbuster announce a 20-year deal to provide video-on-demand service over high-speed internet. Eight months later the deal was terminated.
Azurix Chairman Rebecca Mark "Mark the Shark", resigns.
- March Enron CEO Kenneth LayKenneth LayKenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
filed fraudulent annual 10-KForm 10-KA Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , that gives a comprehensive summary of a public company's performance...
for 1999
- March 13 Jeffrey SkillingJeffrey SkillingJeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
signed fraudulent letters to Arthur Andersen LLPArthur AndersenArthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
about 1999 financial data.
- July Enron issues a 64 pages booklet, containing a comprehensive Code of EthicsEnron Code of EthicsThe Enron Code of Ethics was a 64-page booklet allegedly published by Enron Corporation, the last known edition of which was in July 2000.The sale of copies of the booklet on Ebay has passed into internet folklore....
- August Enron CEO Kenneth Lay filed a fraudulent quarterly 10-Q for second quarter 2000
- November 1 Enron CEO Kenneth Lay begins selling Enron shares.
- November Enron CEO Kenneth Lay files a fraudulent quarterly 10-Q for third quarter 2000
2001
- January 8 California governor Gray DavisGray DavisJoseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
calls EnronEnronEnron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
and other energy companies "out-of-state profiteers" during the 2000 California energy crisis.
- January 17 Enron engineers a rolling blackoutRolling blackoutA rolling blackout, also referred to as load shedding, is an intentionally-engineered electrical power outage where electricity delivery is stopped for non-overlapping periods of time over geographical regions. Rolling blackouts are a last-resort measure used by an electric utility company in order...
during peak demand in CaliforniaCalifornia electricity crisisThe California electricity crisis, also known as the Western U.S. Energy Crisis of 2000 and 2001 was a situation in which California had a shortage of electricity caused by market manipulations and illegal shutdowns of pipelines by Texas energy consortiums...
, endangering millions of Californians, creating huge debts. (Revealed in 2004 in the Enron Trader Tapes)
- January 20 The inaugurationInaugurationAn inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
is attended by Enron CEO Kenneth LayKenneth LayKenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
and president Jeffrey SkillingJeffrey SkillingJeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
, who each make $100,000 contributions for the event.
- January 22 Jeffrey Skilling commits securities fraud by omitting bad news and lying to investors.
- January 25 Jeffrey Skilling makes false presentation to investors.
- February 5 Enron executives get bonus checks for millions of dollars.
- Arthur AndersenArthur AndersenArthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
auditors internally question the LJM partnershipPartnershipA partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
s.
- February 6 Enron is named "most innovative company in America" for the sixth consecutive year by Fortune Magazine.
- February 12 Skilling is named CEO.
- Arthur Andersen tells the Enron board of directors audit committee that they have no concerns.
- February 22 Lay and other Enron officials go to the White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to meet with the Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
energy task forceEnergy Task ForceThe Energy Task Force, officially the National Energy Policy Development Group , was a task force created by then-U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001 during his second week in office. Vice President Dick Cheney was named chairman...
.
- March 5 Fortune Magazine publishes article, "Is ENRON Overpriced?" written by Bethany McLeanBethany McLeanBethany McLean is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine, and known for her work on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis...
.
- March 7 Lay and other Enron officials meet with the energy task force of Vice President Dick Cheney.
- March 8 Enron lawyer Jordan MintzJordan MintzEnron whistleblower Jordan Mintz was the former Managing Director for Corporate Tax at Enron Corporation. Mintz began working at Enron in 1997, where he started as Vice President for Tax at Enron North America, formerly Enron Capital and Trade. He became Vice President and General Counsel for...
sends a memorandum questioning the LJM partnerships to Enron chief risk officerChief risk officerThe chief risk officer or chief risk management officer of a corporation is the executive accountable for enabling the efficient and effective governance of significant risks, and related opportunities, to a business and its various segments. Risks are commonly categorized as strategic,...
Richard Buy and chief accounting officer Richard CauseyRichard CauseyRichard Alan Causey is one of the prominent figures in the Enron accounting scandal. Causey was Enron's Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer....
.
- March 26 To cover problems in the Raptor partnerships, Enron repurchases ChewcoChewcoChewco Investments L. P., was a limited partnership associated with the Enron scandal, which resulted in the bankruptcy of Enron. It was named after the Star Wars character Chewbacca, because it was created to hide losses from the Joint Energy Development Investment Limited, known by its acronym...
's investment in JEDIJediThe Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
for $35 million, netting Enron executive Michael Kopper over $10 million.
- April 17 Enron announces a first quarter profit of $536 million.
- Lay and other Enron officials meet with Vice President Dick Cheney.
- Skilling is caught on tape calling analyst Richard Grubman an "asshole."
- May 5 Enron's stock price closes below $59.78, a critical point for one of the partnerships.
- May 17 The energy task force issues its report, which endorses some of Enron's proposals.
- May 18 Chief executive of Enron Xcelerator Lou PaiLou PaiLou Lung Pai born Nanjing China 1946, is a Chinese-American businessman and former Enron executive. He was CEO of Enron Energy Services and Enron Xcelerator, a venture capital division of Enron. He left Enron with over $250 million...
sells 1.1 million Enron shares over the next 21 days.
- May 22 Jordan MintzJordan MintzEnron whistleblower Jordan Mintz was the former Managing Director for Corporate Tax at Enron Corporation. Mintz began working at Enron in 1997, where he started as Vice President for Tax at Enron North America, formerly Enron Capital and Trade. He became Vice President and General Counsel for...
sends a memorandum to Jeffrey SkillingJeffrey SkillingJeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
for his sign-off on LJM paperwork.
- June 6 Enron general counselGeneral CounselA general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
Jim Derrick sells 160,000 Enron shares over the next ten days.
- June 12 Skilling jokes about the California electricity crisisCalifornia electricity crisisThe California electricity crisis, also known as the Western U.S. Energy Crisis of 2000 and 2001 was a situation in which California had a shortage of electricity caused by market manipulations and illegal shutdowns of pipelines by Texas energy consortiums...
at a Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan areaThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
conference.
- June 21 Skilling is hit in the face with a pie during a visit to California.
- July 13 Chief executive of Enron Broadband Services Ken Rice sells 386,000 Enron shares.
- July 23 Enron's stock price closes below $47, a critical point for the Raptor partnerships.
- July 27 Director Robert Belfer sells 100,000 Enron shares.
- August 7 Officials from a German Enron subsidiary meet with the Dick Cheney energy task force.
- August 14 Citing "personal reasons," Skilling resigns as CEO. Lay replaces him, stating "Absolutely no accounting issue, no trading issue, no reserve issue, no previously unknown problem issues" are involved.
- August 15 Sherron WatkinsSherron WatkinsSherron Watkins was Vice President of Corporate Development at the Enron Corporation. She is considered by many to be the whistleblower who helped to uncover the Enron scandal in 2001....
, a vice president for corporate development, puts a one-page letter in Lay's suggestion box, questioning Enron's accounting practices.
- August 16 Lay discusses Skilling's departure with employees.
- August 20 Watkins phones a former co-worker at Arthur AndersenArthur AndersenArthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
about her worries.
- Lay exercises 25,000 share options at $20.78 ($519,000 total value); the stock closes at $36.25. One of Lay's lawyers states later that some of the stock was used to repay an Enron line of credit.
- August 21 Lay emails employees, stating "one of my highest priorities is to restore investorInvestorAn investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
confidence in Enron. This should result in a significantly higher stock price."
- He exercises 68,620 share options at $21.56 ($1,479,477 total value); the stock closes at $36.88. One of Lay's lawyers states later that Lay never sold the shares, which are now practically worthless.
- David B. Duncan, the lead partner on the Enron account for Arthur Andersen, meets with three other AA officials to discuss the Watkins call. A memo states they "agreed to consult our firm's legal adviser about what actions to take."
- August 22 Watkins meets with Lay, giving him a seven-page letter stating that Enron may be an "elaborate accounting hoax," and advises him not to involve Vinson & Elkins, Enron's law firm, because of potential conflicts of interest.
- V&E is asked if an inquiry is necessary, but told not to bother "second-guessing the accounting advice and treatment."
- September 17 Jeffrey Skilling sells 500,000 Enron shares.
- September 21 Director Robert Belfer sells 109,000 Enron shares.
- September 26 Lay tells employees that Enron's accounting practices are "legal and totally appropriate," that Enron stock is "an incredible bargain," that he and other executives have bought Enron stock in the last two months, and that "the third quarter is looking great" in an online forum.
- October 9 Arthur Andersen hires the Davis Polk & WardwellDavis Polk & WardwellDavis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an international law firm. The firm employs more than 800 attorneys worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. The firm represents many of the world's largest companies and leading financial institutions, and is best known for its corporate and litigation...
law firm to prepare a defense for the company.
- October 10 Enron officials discuss energy policyEnergy policyEnergy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...
with staff of Vice President Dick Cheney.
- October 12 An Arthur Andersen lawyer in Chicago, Nancy TempleNancy TempleNancy Anne Temple was an in-house attorney for Arthur Andersen who advised Michael Odom and David B. Duncan about Arthur Andersen policies regarding retention of documents from client engagements. Duncan oversaw the shredding of Arthur Andersen documents concerning their work for client Enron,...
, emails an Andersen partner in HoustonHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Michael Odom, reminding him of the Andersen document retention and destruction policy. He forwards the email to a co-worker.
- October 15 Vinson & Elkins deliver a report which states that Arthur Andersen approved of Enron's accounting procedures, and that Enron did nothing wrong.
- October 16 Enron announces a third quarter loss of $618 million.
- October 17 To correct an accounting error on the Raptor partnerships devised by CFO Andrew FastowAndrew FastowAndrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
, Enron's assets (shareholder equity) are reduced by $1.01 billion.
- The Enron 401(k)401(k)A 401 is a type of retirement savings account in the United States, which takes its name from subsection of the Internal Revenue Code . A contributor can begin to withdraw funds after reaching the age of 59 1/2 years...
retirement plan is frozen for administrative changes.
- October 22 Enron announces that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun an inquiry into Enron's accounting practices with its partnerships.
- The Arthur Andersen partner in charge of the Enron account, David B. Duncan tells the audit managers to comply with the Andersen document retention policy, and observes them doing so by shredding documents.
- October 23 Lay reassures investors in a conference callConference callA conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party...
, asserting there was no conflict of interest with the Raptor partnerships and that the directors on the board "continue to have the highest faith and confidence" in Fastow.
- David B. Duncan organizes a meeting of the Enron account group to speed up the document destruction, according to testimony by Arthur Andersen managing director Dorsey Lee Baskin Jr..
- October 24 Andrew Fastow is forced to leave Enron.
- October 25 Enron sends an email to all employees and to Arthur Andersen stating that all pertinent documents should be preserved.
- October 26 Lay makes phone call to Alan GreenspanAlan GreenspanAlan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
, chairman of the Federal Reserve, about Enron.
- Lay meets with DynegyDynegyDynegy Inc. , based in Houston, Texas, United States, is a large owner and operator of power plants and a player in the natural gas liquids and coal business...
chairman Charles Watson.
- October 28 Lay talks to Paul H. O'Neill, Secretary of the Treasury. O'Neill tells Peter Fisher, Treasury Under-secretary to look into Enron. Fisher talks with Enron president Greg Whalley repeatedly over the next few days. Whalley, according to Fisher, implies that he would like Fisher to ask Enron's creditors to extend its credit. Fisher doesn't.
- October 29 Lay asks Donald L. Evans, Secretary of Commerce, for help with an upcoming credit ratingCredit ratingA credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...
review by Moody's Investors Service. Evans does nothing, and Moody's downgrades Enron's rating.
- October 31 Enron announces that the SEC inquiry is now a formal investigation.
- November 8 Enron announces it overstated profits by $586 million over five years.
- Lay calls O'Neill again, comparing Enron to Long-Term Capital ManagementLong-Term Capital ManagementLong-Term Capital Management L.P. was a speculative hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut that utilized absolute-return trading strategies combined with high leverage...
.
- The SEC subpoenas Arthur Andersen officials.
- November 9 DynegyDynegyDynegy Inc. , based in Houston, Texas, United States, is a large owner and operator of power plants and a player in the natural gas liquids and coal business...
announces it will acquire Enron for $9 billion.
- Nancy TempleNancy TempleNancy Anne Temple was an in-house attorney for Arthur Andersen who advised Michael Odom and David B. Duncan about Arthur Andersen policies regarding retention of documents from client engagements. Duncan oversaw the shredding of Arthur Andersen documents concerning their work for client Enron,...
leaves a voice message for David B. Duncan ordering the preservation of all Enron documents. His assistant sends an email to other assistants to "stop the shredding".
- November 19 Enron announces the payment of a $690 million note is nearly due as a result of the descent of its credit rating.
- November 28 Dynegy retracts its acquisitionTakeoverIn business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
offer.
- November 29 The SEC begins investigating Arthur Andersen.
- December 2 Enron files for bankruptcyBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
- December 3 Enron lays off 4,000 in Houston.
- December 12 In testimony before Congress, Arthur AndersenArthur AndersenArthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
CEO Joseph BerardinoJoseph BerardinoJoseph F. Berardino is an American businessman, Certified Public Accountant, and managing director at Alvarez & Marsal. Beradino was formerly managing partner and CEO of Arthur Andersen and chairman and CEO of Profectus Bioscience....
states that Enron might have violated securities laws.
2002
- January 9 The U.S. Justice Department confirms reports that it has begun a criminal investigation into Enron's bankruptcy.
- January 10 Arthur Andersen states that it destroyed Enron documents. Congressional investigators state the destruction occurred from September to November.
- January 14 Arthur Andersen releases communications documents detailing Nancy Temple's involvement in the document destruction.
- January 15 Arthur Andersen announces that it fired David B. Duncan and put three partners on administrative leave.
- January 20 On Meet the PressMeet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
, Arthur Andersen CEO Joseph BerardinoJoseph BerardinoJoseph F. Berardino is an American businessman, Certified Public Accountant, and managing director at Alvarez & Marsal. Beradino was formerly managing partner and CEO of Arthur Andersen and chairman and CEO of Profectus Bioscience....
states the document retention policy was "not to shred documents, not to eliminate documents if you have a reasonable basis to anticipate investigation."
- January 22 Enron executive Maureen CastanedaMaureen CastanedaMaureen Castaneda was former director of Enron Corporation’s foreign investments section. She was laid off from Enron and took a box of shredded paper home to use as packing material. After a conversation with her attorney, she realized the implications of the shredded paper, and turned it over...
states that Enron had been shredding documents in its Houston headquarters the previous week.
- January 24 The United States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsUnited States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsThe U.S. House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is a subcommittee within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.-Jurisdiction:...
(107th Congress107th United States CongressThe One Hundred Seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final...
) questions Arthur Andersen witnesses including Nancy Temple and David Duncan.
- January 25 Former Enron executive J. Clifford BaxterJ. Clifford BaxterJohn Clifford "Cliff" Baxter was a former Enron Corporation executive who resigned in May 2001. He sold $30 million worth of Enron stock during the months prior to Enron's bankruptcy. Reportedly, Baxter clashed with CEO Jeffrey Skilling over questionable Enron business practices...
found dead from apparent suicide.
- February 27 ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
Democrat Joseph Lieberman publicly criticized Wall Street Analysts: "It seems clear that too many analysts failed to ask 'why' before they said 'buy'"
- May 3 Enron proposes to set up a new company temporarily called OpCo Energy Company. If approved, OpCo will have Enron's core assets, including 15,000 miles of pipelinePipeline transportPipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
assets, 75,000 miles of distribution assets, 6,700 megawattWattThe watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of generationGenerationGeneration , also known as procreation in biological sciences, is the act of producing offspring....
, and 12,000 employees. http://www.enron.com/corp/pressroom/releases/2002/ene/23-050302ReleaseLtr.html
- July 15 Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) sues 11 power generating and marketing companies, including Enron, for conspiring to create artificial power shortages in 2001. Snohomish County PUDSnohomish County PUDSnohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility providing power to 320,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to over 20,000 customers in the northeast section of the Snohomish County....
also cancels a $200 million purchase contract with Enron.
- August Enron demands that Snohomish County PUDSnohomish County PUDSnohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility providing power to 320,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to over 20,000 customers in the northeast section of the Snohomish County....
pay it $122 million for canceling its purchase contract. The PUD responds with the claim that the contract was void because Enron was involved in fraudulent business practices to drive up prices.
- August 13 FERC launches a formal investigation into potential misconduct in the power generating and marketing industry.
2003
- February 19 A grassrootsGrassrootsA grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
movement in PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
submits enough signatures to qualify a measure for an election to decide whether to begin the process of converting Enron subsidiary Portland General ElectricPortland General ElectricPortland General Electric is an electrical utility based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon...
(PGE) into a PUDPublic utility districtIn the United States, a public utility district is a special-purpose district or other governmental jurisdiction that provides public utilities to the residents of that district.PUDs are created by a local government body, such as a city, county, or...
.
- March 17 Merrill LynchMerrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
, its four former executives and the SEC agree to settle the Enron security fraud case for $80 million. It is one of the five largest penalties imposed on security-related civil cases. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-financial-sec-merrill.html
- March 19 Enron Board of Directors approves to keep its three pipeline companies, Transwestern PipelineTranswestern PipelineTranswestern Pipeline Company, LLC owns and operates a natural gas transmission system that provides access to natural gas supplies in the San Juan and Rocky Mountain Basins in northwest New Mexico, southwest Colorado, the Texas-Oklahoma Panhandle, and the Permian Basin region of West Texas and...
Company, Citrus Corp., and Northern Plains Natural Gas Company, as subsidiaries of the new company temporarily called PipeCo. http://www.enron.com/corp/pressroom/releases/2003/ene/031903releasepdf.html
- May 9 Enron Board of Directors approves retention of most overseas power plants, pipelines, and utility businesses as subsidiaries of a new company temporarily called InternationalCo (also known as, Enron International).
- June 25 FERC upholds as binding billions of dollars in long-term contracts signed by western utilities and the state of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Enron announces the formal organization of PipeCo as CrossCountry Energy LLC.
- June 25 Enron announces formal organization of InternationalCo as Prisma Energy InternationalPrisma Energy InternationalPrisma Energy International Inc., was a former subsidiary of Enron Corporation, formed in 2003 to own and manage the majority of Enron's overseas assets, formerly known as "Enron International". Prior to its official organization, Prisma was referred to within Enron as "InternationalCo"...
Inc.
- July 11 Enron files its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
- September 10 Treasurer Ben Glisan, Jr. pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He is the first Enron executive to serve prison time.
- November 5 Voters in the Portland, Oregon metro area defeat a measure that would begin the process of converting Enron subsidiary PGE into a PUD, after both local utility companies, Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, spend $1.9 million on advertisements to defeat the measure.
- November 18 Enron announced that it was selling its subsidiary PGE to a group of investors headed by former OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
governor Neil GoldschmidtNeil GoldschmidtNeil Edward Goldschmidt is an American businessman and former Democratic politician from Oregon who held local, state, and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the governor of Oregon, Goldschmidt is widely considered the most influential figure in the state's politics, both as an...
and funded by Texas Pacific GroupTexas Pacific GroupTPG Capital is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital,...
for $2.35 billion. Goldschmidt had been a visible opponent of the measure to convert PGE to a Public Utility District.
- December Enron subsidiary PGE agrees to pay $8.5 million to settle a case involving illegal trading practices, while admitting no wrongdoing. $1.3 million of the payment will go to the state of Oregon.
2004
- January 6 A New York judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
gives his initial approval to Enron's plan for bankruptcy reorganization. Under this plan, creditorCreditorA creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
s would receive $11 billion in cash and stock. - January 14 Andrew Fastow and his wife Lea FastowLea FastowLea Weingarten Fastow is the wife of former Enron executive and convicted felon Andrew Fastow and is the second former Enron executive to go to prison after Enron collapsed due to fraud in December 2001....
, both accept a plea agreement. Andrew Fastow will serve a ten-year prison sentence and forfeit $23.8 million. Lea Fastow, former Assistant Treasurer for Enron, will serve a five-month prison sentence and a year of supervised release, including five months of house arrest. Both provided testimony against other Enron corporate officers. - January 22 Richard CauseyRichard CauseyRichard Alan Causey is one of the prominent figures in the Enron accounting scandal. Causey was Enron's Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer....
was indicted on federal wire fraud and conspiracyConspiracy (crime)In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
charges for his activities at Enron between 1998 and 2002 in HoustonHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. While prosecutors do not believe he skimmed millions of dollars from the numerous suspicious deals, he is believed to know details of many of them. Causey has pled not guilty. - February 11 Jeffrey SkillingJeffrey SkillingJeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
was arrested by the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, and charged a few days later with 35 counts of fraudFraudIn criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, insider tradingInsider tradingInsider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
, and other crimes. - April 7 Lea Fastow withdraws her guilty plea after a federal judge rejected her plea agreement. Her trial was scheduled for June 2, 2004.
- June 24, 2004 Enron announces sale of CrossCountry Energy LLC to CCE Holdings Inc., a joint venture of Southern Union Company and GE Commercial FinanceGE Commercial FinanceGE Commercial Finance is a unit of GE Capital, . Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA, it plays a role in over 35 countries and had assets of over US$335 billion at year end 2007....
Energy Services for $2.35 billion. - May 18 Voters in Clackamas CountyClackamas County, OregonClackamas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after the Native Americans living in the area, the Clackamas Indians, who were part of the Chinookan people. As of 2010, the population was 375,992...
, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
defeat a measure that would begin the process of converting Enron subsidiary PGE into a PUD. - June 14 Snohomish County PUDSnohomish County PUDSnohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility providing power to 320,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to over 20,000 customers in the northeast section of the Snohomish County....
releases audiotapes and documents providing evidence that Enron manipulated the energy marketEnergy marketEnergy markets are those commodities markets that deal specifically with the trade and supply of energy. Energy market may refer to an electricity market, but can also refer to other sources of energy...
. - July 7 Former EnronEnronEnron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
CEO Kenneth LayKenneth LayKenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
is indicted by a United States federal grand juryGrand juryA grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
on unnamed charges. Lay announces that he will surrender to authorities the following morning. - July 12 Lea Fastow begins serving her maximum one-year sentence after turning herself in at the federal detention center in downtown Houston.
- September 9 Federal bankruptcy judge Arthur GonzalezArthur GonzalezArthur J. Gonzalez is a United States Bankruptcy Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. Gonzalez received his undergraduate degree from Fordham University in 1969. Following graduation, he worked as a New York City public school teacher until 1982, earning a masters degree from the...
denies Enron's request to block a lawsuitLawsuitA lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
by the Pension Benefit Guaranty CorporationPension Benefit Guaranty CorporationThe Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is an independent agency of the United States government that was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and...
, seeking to take control of Enron's pension plans. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation filed a lawsuit in June to force Enron to pay approximately $320 million owed to former employees under four pension plans. - November 3 Former Enron finance director Dan BoyleDan BoyleDaniel Boyle may refer to:*Daniel Boyle , MP for North Mayo, 1910–1918*Dan Boyle , Canadian ice hockey player*Dan Boyle , Irish Green Party politician...
and former Merrill LynchMerrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
bankers Daniel Bayly, Robert Furst, William Fuhs and James Brown are each convicted of one conspiracyConspiracy (crime)In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
count and two counts of wire fraudWire fraudMail and wire fraud is a federal crime in the United States. Together, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346 reach any fraudulent scheme or artifice to intentionally deprive another of property or honest services with a nexus to mail or wire communication....
and face up to 15 years in prison - December 1 GE Commercial FinanceGE Commercial FinanceGE Commercial Finance is a unit of GE Capital, . Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA, it plays a role in over 35 countries and had assets of over US$335 billion at year end 2007....
and Southern Union complete purchase of CrossCountry Energy.
2005
- April 18 Enron Broadband trial begins.
- May 31 U.S. Supreme Court overturns former Arthur AndersenArthur AndersenArthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
conviction. - July 20 Jury in Enron broadband trial acquits three of five defendants. Deadlocks on most of the 164 counts. Five defendants retried in separate trials in 2006.
- December 12 U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas Melinda HarmonMelinda HarmonU.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon was lead judge in the subsequently overruled Arthur Andersen trial. Civil lawsuits against Enron were consolidated in her court; she oversaw class action lawsuits on behalf of both Enron shareholders and its employees....
approves change of plea by David Duncan after unanimous overturn by U.S Supreme Court of Arthur Andersen LLP v. United StatesArthur Andersen LLP v. United StatesArthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously overturned accounting firm Arthur Andersen's conviction of obstruction of justice on the basis that the jury instructions did not properly portray the law Andersen was charged...
. - December 28 Richard CauseyRichard CauseyRichard Alan Causey is one of the prominent figures in the Enron accounting scandal. Causey was Enron's Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer....
pleads guilty to securities fraud.
2006
- January 30 The trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
- April 3 Portland General Electric becomes an independent, publicly traded utility with the transfer of ownership from Enron to its creditors.
- May 25 Kenneth LayKenneth LayKenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
found guilty by a jury on six counts and by a judge on four other counts in a separate bench trial, and Jeffrey SkillingJeffrey SkillingJeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
found guilty of 19 of 28 counts. - July 5 Before sentencing, Kenneth Lay dies of heart attack in Aspen, Colorado at the age of 64.
- July 6 Enron settles Enron Merrill Lynch case for $29.5m
- September 7 Enron completes sale of Prisma Energy InternationalPrisma Energy InternationalPrisma Energy International Inc., was a former subsidiary of Enron Corporation, formed in 2003 to own and manage the majority of Enron's overseas assets, formerly known as "Enron International". Prior to its official organization, Prisma was referred to within Enron as "InternationalCo"...
to Ashmore Energy International Ltd. for $2.9 billion. Prisma returns shareholding in Promigas to Enron. - September 27 Andrew FastowAndrew FastowAndrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
's ten-year prison sentence is reduced by four years. US District Judge Ken Hoyt said the 44-year-old former Enron chief financial officer had given 'exceptional' assistance to prosecutors, had pledged to help victims and had shown remorse, and his wife had gone to prison for a year. - October 17 All of Lay's convictions are officially vacated because he died before the appeals could be heard.
- October 23 Jeffrey Skilling is sentenced to 24 years, 4 months in prison. Reports to prison on December 13, 2006 to serve his sentence.
2007
- January 3 Enron completes sale of shareholding in Promigas to Ashmore Energy International.
- January 19 Enron treasurer Ben Glisan, Jr. finishes his prison term and is released.
- February 16 The Justice Department decides not to appeal to the Supreme Court the charges thrown out by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against Daniel Bayly, Merrill Lynch's former head of investment banking; James A. Brown, former head of the firm's asset lease group; Robert Furst; and a fourth former Merrill executive, William Fuhs. All men were involved in the Enron scandal.
- March 1 Enron changes corporate name to Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation, doing business as Enron Corporation.
- April 4 A judge announces that three former Merrill executives involved in the Enron scandal, Daniel Bayly, James A. Brown, and Robert Furst, will be retried on the charges thrown out by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006. The retrial is scheduled for January 2008. Charges against former Merrill executive Fuhs were dismissed for lack of evidence and cannot be retried. The fifth man, Enron executive Dan Boyle, originally sentenced to a term of 3 years 10 months, remains in prison.
2008
- February 22 A federal judge sentenced three British bankers (David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew) to 37 months each for fraudulent financial transactions conducted with Andrew FastowAndrew FastowAndrew Stuart Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation that was based in Houston, Texas until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his and the company's conduct in 2001...
.