International
Enron probe may be widened
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington
FEB. 9.
Even as there is speculation that the former Chairman of the Enron Corporation, Kenneth Lay, may be coming before a Senate panel next week, indications from Capitol Hill are that the probes are likely to be widened to include powerful Wall Street players including major brokerage firms, analysts and credit rating agencies.
Last week, Mr. Lay pulled out of the hearings, his lawyer maintaining that his client could not appear before panels where conclusions have already been reached. And this week, two other top executives of the battered Enron Corporation took recourse to the Fifth Amendment, or the constitutional right against self-incrimination.
According to the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Sub-Committee, discussions over Mr. Lay's possible appearance on Capitol Hill is proceeding favourably. At the same time, there is the considered legal view that Mr. Lay could appear before Congress, insist on his Fifth Amendment rights and say nothing. This week on Capitol Hill, law makers listened somewhat sceptically to a former Chief Executive Officer of Enron, Jeff Skilling, who maintained that he knew very few details of the numerous partnerships of the Houston-based energy giant which ultimately led to the sinking of the corporation. Law makers did not seem to believe Mr. Skilling's version and they told him bluntly about this. But some law makers involved in the Congressional hearing panels are calling for an expansion in the scope of the investigations saying that many more players are involved. For instance, it is being said that a major brokerage firm was promised bond sales business in exchange for investments in some of Enron's dubious partnerships.
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