Court orders family accounts of former Enron CEO frozen

A federal judge has frozen brokerage accounts belonging to former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow's family members.

The move comes after Fastow's brother tried to move millions of dollars out of one of the accounts, a person familiar with the case says.

The warrants were signed by US Magistrate Calvin Botley, but they are all sealed.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the scope of the order is broader than the planned seizures of assets revealed on Wednesday, when former Enron executive Michael Kopper pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering.

The criminal complaint filed in Kopper's case included a list of more than $23 million in bank and brokerage accounts held by Fastow and his wife, Lea, his family foundation, his brother Peter and several former Enron employees.

Christopher Bebel, a former federal prosecutor who practices securities law at Shepherd Smith & Bebel in Houston, said the increased scope may stem from "substitute assets" prosecutors can seek under forfeiture laws.

Lists of assets on the warrants "could itemise some of the substitute assets the government would attempt to seize if they can't locate the assets already targeted and made public," Bebel said.

The warrants would remain sealed if prosecutors "don't want to show all their cards at this point," he said.

Kopper, the first former Enron executive to plead guilty to crimes related to the company's failure, admitted to creating partnerships designed to enrich himself, his former boss Fastow and others at Enron at the expense of the company and its shareholders.

As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to surrender $12 million he gained illegally through his accounting machinations to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.