Long-time Enron auditor Andersen played no role in creating off-the-books partnerships used to hide losses and enrich executives before the energy trader's violent implosion, Andersen's CEO has said.
Also yesterday, former senior Enron employees told Congress the once-giant energy trader gave millions in bonuses to top executives two days before filing for bankruptcy last year, then fired thousands of employees without the severance pay to which they were entitled.
And disgraced former Enron chairman Mr Kenneth Lay has agreed to appear before Congress next week after failing to show up for a hearing on the advice of his attorney, who cited what he called a prosecutorial tone in Congress. However, he was expected to invoke his legal right not to answer questions.
Andersen CEO Mr Joseph Berardino told the House Financial Services capital markets subcommittee that the special Enron committee led by William Powers, dean of the University of Texas Law School, had rebuffed Andersen's attempts to offer information about Enron's spectacular collapse.
"We begged them to talk to us," Mr Berardino told the congressional panel. "This committee did not talk to us."
The hard-hitting Powers Report, released on Saturday, alleged Andersen was closely involved in the creation of the shadowy web of partnerships used by Enron to hide debt.
The chief of America's fifth-largest accounting firm said it did not know about transactions involving the partnerships.
Contrary to the Powers report, he said, Andersen did not help develop those partnerships. "We did not help to establish. We reviewed the accounting that others developed," he said.
Enron fired Chicago-based Andersen as its auditor on January 17th, ending a long relationship in which some Andersen accountants ended up working for Houston-based Enron.
