SUPERSEDING INDICTMENTS UNSEALED IN TWO ENRON CASES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, Enron Task Force Director Andrew Weissmann, and Executive Assistant Director Grant Ashley of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that two superseding indictments were returned by the grand jury in Houston, Texas, and unsealed.. The superseding indictments add sentencing allegations as to the defendants charged in two pending criminal cases: United States v. Bayly, Cr. No. H-03-363 (Werlein, J.), and United States v. Rice, Cr. No. H-03-0093 (Gilmore, J). The Bayly case is scheduled for trial on August 18, 2004, and the Rice case is scheduled for October 4, 2004.

The investigation into Enron’s collapse is being conducted by the Enron Task Force, a team of federal prosecutors supervised by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and agents from the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigative Division. The Task Force has also coordinated with and received considerable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Enron Task Force is part of President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force, created in July 2002 to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption in U.S. corporations.

Thirty-one defendants have been charged in connection with the work of the Enron Task Force and 11 defendants have so far been convicted. The total forfeiture for victims obtained to date is over $161 million. The Task Force investigation is continuing.

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