Congressional investigators will subpoena senior officials of the Arthur Andersen LLP auditing firm, including the chief executive and a fired auditor, in an effort to force their testimony today about the destruction of documents related to failed energy giant Enron Corp.
Ken Johnson, spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the panel's chairman, Representative Billy Tauzin, would sign the four subpoenas Tuesday night.
Subpoenas are going to Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino, fired auditor David Duncan, attorney Nancy Temple and risk manager Michael Odom.
Duncan was dismissed by Andersen last week for his role in the extensive destruction of Enron-related documents after federal regulators began investigating possible irregularities in the failed energy company's accounting.
Enron entered the largest bankruptcy in US history on Dec. 2.
Robert Giuffra, one of his attorneys, said Tuesday evening that no decision had been made on whether Duncan would testify. "We have not received a subpoena," he said.
Temple and Odom, while expressing willingness to testify, have raised concerns about protecting confidential information relating to the investigation, Johnson said.
He noted that the firm's chief executive had been interviewed over the weekend on television.
"He should be able to find the time to appear at a congressional hearing. ... No one's getting a free pass on this one," Johnson said.
Berardino voluntarily testified at the first congressional hearings on Enron last month, defending Andersen's work for Enron but acknowledging that financial reporting practices must change. He said Andersen notified Enron's audit committee on Nov. 2 of "possible illegal acts within the company." Berardino did not mention the document shredding. More recently, he said executives of the Chicago-based firm didn't learn of the destruction until shortly after New Year's.
Patrick Dorton, an Andersen spokesman, said, "We have not received a subpoena. We have told the committee that we would testify but the only question is when."
News of the planned subpoenas came as FBI agents and federal prosecutors entered Enron's Houston headquarters to investigate allegations that massive document destruction took place at the company starting in late November and continuing until as recently as last week.
The Securities and Exchange Commission started looking into Enron's accounting in mid-October, after the company reported a third-quarter loss of more than US$600 million. The SEC's inquiry eventually included demands for financial documents from Enron and Andersen.
In a sprawling inquiry with both financial and political overtones, 11 House and Senate committees are investigating the Enron debacle, while the Justice Department and the SEC pursue their own less visible probes.
President George W. Bush urged Congress on Tuesday not to be distracted by the Enron investigation.
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