Enron probe: Ex-chairman pulls out of testimony

Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay pulled out of this week’s scheduled congressional testimony as members of Congress suggested he and other company executives engaged in widespread criminality.

Enron’s chairman ‘‘cannot be expected to participate in a proceeding in which conclusions have been reached before Mr Lay has been given an opportunity to be heard,’’ his attorney, Earl Silbert, said yesterday in letters to the Senate and House panels that were to hear from him.