Enron Fraud Suspect Implicates Defendants

[UpInArms]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/26/257.html

HOUSTON -- Former Enron Broadband chief executive officer Ken Rice, testifying for the government, implicated four of five defendants on trial for securities fraud at the Enron subsidiary in Houston federal court.

Rice testified that the four men told analysts at a January 2000 conference that Enron Broadband's network software performed better than it did. Rice, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, said they lied in order to prop up Enron's stock price.

"At numerous points in the presentation, myself, Mr. Hirko, Mr. Shelby and Mr. Yeager all stated that we had network control software that could do a number of things it couldn't do," Rice said, adding that they wanted "more credibility" with analysts so as to "get our stock price up."

It is the first time any of the defendants have been directly implicated in the trial, which began this week. Rice implicated defendants Joseph Hirko, a former Enron Broadband chief executive; Scott Yeager, a former senior vice president of business development; and former senior vice president of engineering and operations Rex Shelby.

Rice later implicated a fourth defendant, former vice president of finance Kevin Howard, as well as former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling, an unindicted co-conspirator in the case. The fifth defendant is former senior accounting director Michael Krautz.

...more...

and the more tame Reuters headline:

Former Enron Internet CEO Describes Unit's Disarray

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8286832

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The former co-chief executive of Enron's Internet division testified on Monday that he was dedicated to achieving a $20 billion valuation for his unit even as evidence mounted that it might not be worth much at all.

Kenneth Rice, appearing as part of a plea agreement in the trial of five former confederates at Enron Broadband Services (EBS), told jurors the division had several troubled projects leading up to an important January 2000 conference with analysts.

"A lot of our presentation in the analysts conference was designed to convey we were credible in our ability to deliver network control software," Rice said.

Federal prosecutor Ben Campbell then asked if that message was accurate. "No, it was not," Rice said.

...more...

[kohodog]

1. I'm reading "A Conspiracy of Fools" about Enron

A great read...I'm finding that I'm on another side of the world from these guys. I find it hard to fathom their shallow money/poifit game. I really cannot comprehend their worldview, which is probably too commonplace in certain Multinational Corporations (Like Haliburton). It amazes me what they live for. Their single minded love of power and control is the same ethos embraced by this administration.

[peacetalksforall]

2. It seems that the Moscos Times writes a better headline. A switch

was made somewhere along the way...our so-called news organizations went all propagand all the time like the old USSR. And the Moscow Times writes a very straight story.