Former Enron CEO to face criminal charges

HOUSTON (AP) -- Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron Corp. chief executive who resigned less than four months before the company shattered in scandal, was to face criminal charges today related to the company's collapse, sources told The Associated Press.
The charges come almost exactly two years after Skilling bucked the trend of former Enron executives invoking their Fifth Amendment rights before Congress, telling two panels he knew nothing about serious problems at the energy trader before he quit after only six months as CEO.
Two sources close to the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday that Skilling was expected to surrender to the FBI early Thursday and then appear before a federal judge on charges related to Enron's collapse.
Barring any last minute delays, Skilling, 50, would be the highest-profile former Enron executive to date to face criminal charges. He would be the 28th individual to be charged and one of the most anticipated in the Justice Department's methodical investigation, which passed its two-year mark last month.
Skilling's former boss, Enron founder and former chairman Kenneth Lay, has not been charged, and the sources said it was unclear if he would become a defendant.