Former Enron executive Fastow reportedly negotiating plea
Possible deal could send Fastow, wife to prison
From Jen Rogers
CNNfn
 |
Lea Fastow, left, and husband Andrew are shown leaving a federal courthouse in Houston last year.
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
A former top Enron executive and his wife are in plea-bargain discussions with the government that would reduce their prison sentences. CNN's Chris Huntington reports (January 8)
|
|
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A former top Enron executive and his wife are in plea-bargain discussions with the government that would send them to prison, sources say.
An agreement could be finalized as early as Thursday for Andrew and Lea Fastow, a source said.
Fastow, who was in the top tier of management at the fallen energy giant, would be the highest-ranking executive to plead guilty in the criminal investigation of Enron's 2001 collapse.
The couple, both now free on bond, has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, is charged with helping mastermind financial schemes that led to the energy giant's bankruptcy more than two years ago.
He was indicted on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in October 2002 by a federal grand jury in Houston. A superseding indictment returned last May increased the number of charges against him to 109 counts.
The charges against him allege that masterminded a series of schemes that hid Enron's debt, inflated profits and allowed him to skim millions of dollars for himself, his family and friends and colleagues.
Lea Fastow, a former assistant treasurer at Enron, was charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and filing false tax returns -- for collaborating with her husband in the alleged scheme years after she left the company.
Lea Fastow resigned from the company in 1997, a year before her husband was named chief financial officer.
One source cautioned that while discussions are under way, nothing has been settled.
The Justice Department had no comment. Nor did Gordon Andrew, a spokesman for the Fastows.
