Former Enron CEO to keep quiet

Former Enron chief executive officer Kenneth Lay is scheduled to appear before a congressional subcommittee today, but he is not expected to testify, even as new reports surface of evidence tying him to Enron's questionable accounting practices.

Lay has been subpoenaed to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing about the collapse of Enron, which filed in December the largest bankruptcy case in US history.

Though Lay's attorneys on Friday suggested to US Senator Byron Dorgan that Lay would talk, by the weekend he had changed his mind, and a spokeswoman said that he would assert his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination by not answering questions.

Earlier this month, Lay had agreed to appear voluntarily in the US Senate, but later withdrew his offer, saying he was worried the questioning would be too prosecutorial.

Lay's appearance comes on the same day the Wall Street Journal reported the discovery of an internal Enron document showing for the first time that Lay directly participated in some of the accounting practices that eventually led to its ignominious collapse.