A former Enron vice-chairman who resigned last May after challenging the company's questionable business practices, was found shot dead yesterday in his Mercedes sedan in an exclusive suburb of Houston, Texas, in an apparent suicide.
Mr J Clifford Baxter, 43, was facing legal action over the collapse of the giant energy-trading company in December, causing billions of dollars in losses for employees, pensioners and shareholders. The New York native and former US Air Force captain was one of 29 defendants named in a federal lawsuit over sales of stock by Enron executives. It said Mr Baxter sold 577,436 shares for $35.2 million (€40.06 million).
Mr Baxter's body and a suicide note were found by a police patrol at 2.23 a.m. near his home in Sugarland. He was in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to the head. A suicide note was found but not disclosed.
The death was ruled a suicide by Mr Jim Richard, a justice of the peace, but a police officer said later, "We feel this is so but we are taking all the precautions necessary." An autopsy is to be held.
Mr Baxter was identified in a letter that Enron executive Ms Sherron Watkins sent last August to company chairman Mr Kenneth Lay warning Enron could implode in a wave of accountancy scandals.
"Cliff Baxter complained mightily to [then-chief executive Mr Jeff] Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM," she wrote, referring to a shell entity created to kept debt off Enron's books. Mr Skilling abruptly quit on August 14th.
After joining Enron in 1991, Mr Baxter became chairman and chief executive of Enron North America and was promoted to vice-chairman in October 2000.
Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2nd after it announced a $618 million third quarter loss.
Mr Lay, one of President George W Bush's major financial backers, resigned three days ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that a Channel Islands company called Mahonia, set up by JP Morgan, was used for years to manage Enron tax liabilities. The operation, only disclosed by JP Morgan last month, made $100 million in fees but now stands to lose $1 billion.
