Enron docs reveal a house of cards
Enron docs reveal a house of cards
Enron documents reveal that the company was involved in tax evasion. The Senate Finance Committee released its report into the collapse of the energy giant yesterday in the United States.
Charles Grassley, the Senate Finance Committee chairman said on American radio that in creating the report they had uncovered Enron letters, tax returns, accounts, correspondents and internal documents which laid out the tax evasion plan.
These documents revealed that Enron did not pay income tax at all between 1996 and 1999. The report found that Enron had 881 off-shore accounts, mostly in the Cayman Islands, a famous tax haven in the West Indies.
Enron's tax accounting was so confusing that tax officials from the IRS could not understand it the report states. It also uncovered week long trips involving wining, dining, tennis and fishing between Enron officials and tax officials as Enron sought to get its own way. The report goes on to cast serious doubts on the ethics of tax advisors, bankers, accountants and lawyers who were involved with Enron.
Enron was described on national radio by Mr Grassley as "a farce" and a "house of cards". He also described the benefits paid to executives as "jaw dropping", whilst the retirement funds of Enron employees were left without a penny.
"The report reads like a conspiracy novel, with some to the nation's finest banks, accounting firms and attorneys working together to prop up the biggest corporate farce of this century," he said to the BBC.
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