culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Monday, December 09, 2002
Further explorations in the bottomless pit of Enron.
According to the affidavit, [former CFO] Fastow used his own children and wife as conduits for questionable payments that he himself was afraid to accept. Former friend and Enron subordinate [Michael] Kopper, who has already pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in the Enron scandal, claimed the routine was just part of a Fastow special gifts program.

"To disguise the nature of the payments," reported [FBI special] agent [Omer J.] Meisel, "Fastow instructed Kopper to establish a 'gifting program,' whereby Kopper and his domestic partner [William Dodson] made annual gifts of $10,000 to individual Fastow family members." Even as he was constructing special partnerships that the government and the Securities and Exchange Commission claim broke numerous accounting rules, Fastow was mindful of IRS guidelines.

The $10,000 amount was chosen because gifts of up to that amount to an individual in one year are not required to be reported and are excluded from taxable income. In order to skim kickbacks from the various partnerships, the government claims, Fastow made his own family the mules for the illicit payments.

"Fastow instructed Kopper that he and his domestic partner should write checks not only to Fastow but also to Fastow's wife and two children," according to the affidavit. "Fastow told Kopper that, if ever asked, they could explain the checks from Kopper by saying he and Fastow were very close friends and the checks were gifts." On December 31, 1998, Kopper wrote two $10,000 checks to Fastow's children and one for $19,724 to his wife. The goodies over two years totaled $125,000.
From
Houston Press.
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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