Andersen guilty in Enron case: Jury

A key ruling on Friday by the judge appeared to break a logjam that had kept the jury from reaching a verdict for more than a week.

In a ruling the prosecution welcomed, Harmon ruled the jury need not agree that the same Andersen employee illegally persuaded others to shred Enron records to find the entire partnership guilty.

The judge set sentencing for October 11. He asked the jury to answer a question: Whether they all agreed the same Andersen employee acted criminally. The jury answered yes to that question.

The panel returned its verdict on the tenth day of deliberations. The jury on the seventh day told the judge they were deadlocked and she read them a standard instruction, called the ‘‘dynamite’’ charge, that was designed to break the deadlock.

The verdict means Andersen can no longer audit publicly-traded companies, and could now face fines of up to twice the amount of economic harm the judge determines its actions caused.

Although no one will go to jail, Andersen still faces a mountain of lawsuits and possible civil punishment from the SEC. Few expect the partnership to survive in any real form.

Chicago-based Andersen admitted destroying Enron records over a two -week period starting from October 23, as SEC began looking into Enron’s murky accounting of off-balance

sheet partnerships that hid billions in debt. (Reuters)