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Lay to appear
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February 5, 2002: 3:32 p.m. ET
Lawmakers say Enron collapse could lead to criminal prosecutions.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Kenneth Lay agreed Tuesday to appear on Capitol Hill next week after two congressional panels decided to subpoena the former Enron Corp. chairman, while lawmakers said the Enron scandal could lead to criminal prosecutions.
Lay agreed to appear after he was subpoenaed to testify on the collapse of the energy trading giant, a spokeswoman for a House panel investigating the matter told CNN/Money Tuesday. The Senate Commerce Committee and the House Financial Services Committee both voted Tuesday to subpoena Lay. Details
Separately, The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony Tuesday from William Powers, author of a key report that blasted how Enron handled the special partnerships that hid debts and enriched some of its executives.
"They literally got employees of Enron to join in with them," said Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, after hearing the Powers testimony.
The report revealed that many of the deals put together by Enron and Fastow had nothing to do with any economic benefit but with hiding Enron's massive debt load from investors.
"If the report is accurate there may be some criminal charges," Tauzin added. Details
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CNN's Jonathan Karl reports on Ken Lay's decision not to testify.
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In other Enron developments:
Joseph Berardino, the embattled CEO of Arthur Andersen, pointed the finger of blame back at Enron.
Berardino, speaking before the House Financial Services Committee, refuted claims made by an Enron director that the accounting firm refused to cooperate.
Instead, Andersen had provided Enron with its audit papers and was in the process of setting up interviews when Enron fired the accounting firm, Berardino told congressional investigators.
Andersen never heard from Enron's investigative committee again and Enron declined Andersen's subsequent requests to communicate, Berardino said. Details
The Houston Astros asked a federal bankruptcy judge Tuesday whether the team should continue its Enron Field naming and license agreement with the company. The team said it has been "materially and adversely affected by the negative public perception and media scrutiny resulting from Enron's alleged bad business practices and bankruptcy." Details
Kenneth Lay, the former CEO of Enron Corp., resigned from the company's board Monday. Lay blamed the multiple inquiries and investigations into Enron, some of which are focused on him personally, for his resignation.
The probes are becoming too much of a distraction for Lay and preventing him from achieving his goal of seeing Enron survive, he said. Details
The House will continue to hold hearings on Enron's collapse.
Later this week, former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling is expected to appear before Congress and will testify, congressional sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN/Money.
Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, also will appear voluntarily, but his lawyers have told congressional investigators that he will invoke the Fifth Amendment, a source said. Details
Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, ripped the Bush administration for its ties to Enron and also called for a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.
"There's a culture of government corruption," Hollings said, offering some of the harshest comments yet directed at the Bush administration. "I've never seen a better example of cash-and-carry government than this Bush administration and Enron."
However, the Department of Justice said there is no apparent reason for a special counsel to investigate Enron. Regulations call for a special counsel when prosecution by the DOJ would present a conflict and serve the public interest. Details
The report commissioned by the independent directors of Enron released Saturday said the company's management "spent considerable time and effort working" to say as little as possible about the controversial partnerships the firm used to improperly inflate profits and hide debt.
The report specifically criticized Lay and the company's former accounting firm, Arthur Andersen.
Enron's former "captain of the ship," as the report called Lay, "does not appear to have directed their [the directors'] attention or his own" to the controversial partnerships.
Andersen was cited for a failure to properly perform oversight duties and improperly providing accounting advice on the partnerships, which generated $5.7 million in fees for the accounting firm, according to the report. Details
Separately, Arthur Andersen named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker to head an independent board that will develop changes in its auditing and consulting practices.
Andersen's Berardino said Volcker will be given a complete professional staff and full access to the firm's operational procedures. Details 
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