Instigator of Enron shady deals pleads guilty to conspiracy

ANDREW FASTOW, the chief architect of the shady deals that brought down Enron, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy in a deal that could take prosecutors to the top of the corporate ladder at the scandal-ridden company.

The plea by the former Enron finance chief called for a 10-year sentence and for him to help prosecutors who have targeted but not charged the executives who once occupied the most opulent offices on the company's top floor: former chairman Kenneth Lay and former chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling.

Enron was the US's seventh-biggest company in 2001, and its bankruptcy was the largest such filing in US history at the time. Its stock once traded at above $90, but sank to mere pennies amid the collapse.

Fastow's wife, Lea, is also set to plead guilty to a tax charge related to Enron's ill-gotten gains. Mrs Fastow, 42, was Enron's former assistant treasurer.

The Fastow plea deals had stalled last week after a judge refused to guarantee Lea a five-month prison sentence, as agreed to with prosecutors.

Her attorney said the couple insisted on the five-month sentence to ensure that their two young sons have at least one parent at home. US District Judge David Hittner demanded that he retain the right to alter Lea's term, and it was not immediately known what sentence he would order.

Andrew Fastow, 42, is the highest-ranking Enron executive charged in the 2001 collapse of the Houston-based energy company. Without a plea, he would have gone to trial on 98 counts of fraud, money laundering, insider trading and other charges.

Prosecutors say Fastow masterminded a sea of partnerships and tangled financing deals that hid Enron debt and inflated company profits while funnelling millions of dollars to him, his family and selected friends.

The partnerships had names like LJM (the first initials of Fastow's wife and two sons) and Chewco (after the "Star Wars" character Chewbacca).

Enron declared bankruptcy in December 2001 amid mass layoffs, leaving investors and retirees stuck with worthless stock. In the following months, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia Communications and others suffered a similar fate.