Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay on Tuesday invoked the Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify to US Congress about his role in the collapse of the energy trading giant.
"After agonizing consideration, I cannot disregard my counsel's instruction, therefore I must respectfully decline to answer on Fifth Amendment grounds all the questions of this committee and subcommittee and of those of any other congressional committee and subcommittee," Lay said in his first appearance before Congress since Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2. Enron's bankruptcy is the largest in US history.
"I am deeply troubled about asserting these rights," Lay said. "It may be perceived by some that I have something to hide."
Lay, who resigned as Enron chairman on January 23, was compelled to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee by subpoena after he refused to testify voluntarily to Congress.
Lay is the sixth person to refuse to testify before Congress about Enron's fall. Four former and current Enron executives including chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, and auditor of the Arthur Andersen Corp. David Duncan also invoked the Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and declined to testify in Congress' deepening inquiry.
Lay's silence was denounced by lawmakers who said they had a wide array of questions for Lay about the Enron bankruptcy and its devastating impact on millions of American investors and thousands of company employees.
William Powers, an Enron director and dean of the University of Texas Law School, who led an internal company investigation, said in prepared testimony that Lay approved partnership arrangements by senior executives.
Powers said Lay "bears significant responsibility for those flawed decisions, as well as for Enron's failure to implement sufficiently rigorous procedural controls to prevent the abuses."
Enron used a complex web of thousands of partnerships to keep some 500 million dollars in debt off Enron's books. Its senior executives reaped tens of millions of dollars from the partnerships.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2002)
