The Enron bankruptcy scandal continues to grow with each passing day. Unfortunately, far too little is being done by federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this massive case of corporate crime. Members of Congress - both Republicans and Democrats - are rushing to hold "hearings" on the unfolding Enron swindle. While Congress holds one hearing after another to shine some light on this massive corporate swindle, law enforcement agencies are supposedly "investigating" the Enron case.
Tens of billions of dollars in corporate and employee assets have vanished, thousands of workers are unemployed, one former company executive has apparently committed suicide, documents and computer records have been destroyed on a wholesale basis, yet no arrests or indictments have been made! While the Justice Department, the Department of Labor, and the FBI are all "investigating" the Enron debacle, it is unclear just who is doing what, or why it is taking months to shut down the continuing lawbreaking.
The latest developments are nothing short of an outrage. Today, former Enron CEO Ken Lay decided that he would not testify before two different Congressional Committees. Congress has yet to subpoena any Enron witnesses to appear and testify. The Enron Corporation also released an in-house report over the weekend that concludes that the Enron collapse was the result of criminal activity. It appears that Enron is being allowed to largely investigate itself!
The Bush White House has gone to great lengths to avoid comment on the Enron fiasco, due to the close relationship of the Bush family, Vice President Cheney, and the Republican Party with the now disgraced Enron empire. And with many prominent Democrats having close ties to Enron as well, it is too soon to tell just how legitimate and thorough an investigation is possible. One thing is for sure; this story is far from over. Stay tuned!