ENRON Former top accountant surrenders

A lawyer for a former Enron accountant says he did nothing wrong.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Enron Corp.'s former top accountant surrendered early today and was taken in handcuffs to the courthouse to face federal charges related to the disgraced energy giant's 2001 collapse.
Richard A. Causey, 44, accompanied by a pair of lawyers, walked into the Houston offices of the FBI just before daybreak. They had no comment as they entered the building. Less than an hour later, Causey arrived at the downtown courthouse.
Causey had been expected to turn himself in and appear in federal court two weeks ago on charges stemming from the Justice Department's two-year Enron investigation. The case involving him, however, moved to the back burner when a plea bargain package for former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow and Fastow's wife, Lea, hit a snag.
Pleaded guilty
Last week, the Fastows pleaded guilty in their separate cases -- Andrew Fastow to two counts of conspiracy, Lea Fastow to one count of filing a false tax return. Those guilty pleas needed to be secured before moving on to Causey, sources close to the investigation said Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
Like Andrew Fastow, Causey reported directly to former chief executives Kenneth Lay and his successor, Jeffrey Skilling. Causey and Fastow split financial duties at Enron and were at the same management level.
It was unclear what charges Causey would face.
"Rick Causey has done absolutely nothing wrong and we will vigorously contest any charges the government may bring," Mark Hulkower, one of Causey's attorneys, said Wednesday.
Andrew Fastow admitted that he and others in Enron's senior management misled investors about Enron's finances to inflate its stock and that he schemed to enrich himself and others at shareholders' expense.
In indictment
Andrew Fastow's October 2002 indictment referred to the chief accounting officer as having a secret deal with Fastow ensuring he wouldn't lose money when one of many shady partnerships he ran did business with Enron. Causey was chief accounting officer when the partnerships were operating.
Causey was one of many Enron executives who joined the energy giant after working at its former outside auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP. He started at Enron in 1991 as assistant controller and became chief accounting officer in 1999.