Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron, was yesterday charged with directing a wide-ranging scheme of to manipulate earnings while reaping tens of millions of dollars from illegal insider stock sales. Mr Skilling – who was led in the handcuffs to the federal court in Houston – was named in a 42-count criminal indictment along with Richard Causey, Enron’s former chief accountant, that portrayed them as “principal architects” of the financial and accounting frauds that preceded the company’s spectacular collapse in December 2001. Mr Skilling pleaded not guilty to counts
of securities frauds, insider trading and other crimes. |