You remember Enron, right? Well the story is not over yet, with trials still pending and new details dropping with every round of testimony. In this case, from former senior Enron accountant Wesley Colwell:

...Wesley H. Colwell kicked off the fifth week of the fraud and conspiracy trial of Skilling and Enron founder Kenneth Lay, telling jurors he helped the company fraudulently manipulate earnings to meet or beat analysts' expectations by dipping into reserves when Enron needed an income boost that business operations didn't provide.

Colwell didn't say Skilling ordered him to plunder reserves to boost earnings. He said, however, that he e-mailed his boss then-Enron North America chief executive David Delainey days before Enron released second-quarter 2000 earnings to say he understood that it was Skilling's "preference" to surpass expectations.

Colwell explained later he had found out about Skilling's preference third-hand from accounting executive Mark Lindsey, who told Colwell that then-Enron Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey had discussed it with Skilling. "I didn't talk to Skilling," Colwell said...

Interesante...more here, via ABCNews.

-- MDT

Labels: Enron