FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2002 WWW.USDOJ.GOV DAG (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Department of Justice is extremely gratified by today's criminal conviction of Arthur Andersen LLP for obstruction of justice in the Enron investigations. The jury has spoken loud and clear in condemning Andersen's illegal conduct.
This guilty verdict shows that the evidence conclusively demonstrated, by the exacting standards of the criminal law, that Andersen intentionally interfered with an official investigation concerning Andersen's client Enron Corporation when it destroyed tons of papers documents and a large quantity of electronic information.
This verdict confirms that Andersen knew full well that these documents were relevant to the inquiries into Enron's collapse and that Andersen partners and employees personally directed these efforts to destroy evidence.
This prosecution has been but one piece of our active and ongoing investigation into the circumstances behind the collapse of Enron. I want to congratulate the prosecutors on achieving their first conviction in just six months since the formation of the Enron Task Force in January 2002. We look forward to their future success in seeking indictments in this matter where the evidence warrants prosecution.
We will continue to vigorously pursue the obstruction of justice -- a crime that undermines our justice system -- where individuals or business organizations illegally interfere with the responsibilities of government investigators.
I want to commend the Enron Task Force for the hard work and long hours they put into this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Weissmann, Sam Buell, Matt Friedrich and trial attorney Sangita Rao worked diligently to present the evidence proving Andersen's guilt. I also want to thank Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff of the Criminal Division; Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division; Fraud Section Chief Joshua Hochberg; the head of the task force, Leslie Caldwell; Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Christopher Wray; and the FBI agents of the task force and FBI Executive Assistant Director Bruce Gebhardt for their work on this matter to date. 02-356
Source: US Department of Justice
