Enron boss charged with fraud

Enron’s former chief financial officer was today charged with fraud, money laundering and conspiring to inflate the fallen energy giant’s profits and enrich himself at the company’s expense.

Andrew Fastow, 40, surrendered to FBI agents in Houston, Texas, and was due in court date later today.

With others, Fastow is accused of creating a scheme to defraud Enron and its shareholders through transactions with off-the-books partnerships that made the company look more profitable than it was.

Fastow, who was handcuffed by FBI agents, is said to have devised the company’s complex web of off-the-books partnerships used to hide one billion dollars in debt from shareholders and federal regulators. He is the most prominent company figure targeted so far by the Justice Department.

Enron filed for bankruptcy late last year, wiping out the retirement savings of staff – and the investments of pension funds and individuals across the United States. Enron was the first in a series of big corporate scandals that have rattled investors’ confidence and the stock market.