Enron 'shredding' dates back to December
Staff at Enron's Houston office shredded large quantities of accounting documents after the SEC said it was to investigate the company's finances, according to reports.
As US financial watchdog the Securities & Exchange Commission launched its investigation, a former Enron executive identified as Maureen Castaneda, told US television network ABC she saw documents shredded in an accounting office on the 19th floor of the Houston office.
Incredibly, the shredded documents were then given to employees as packing material when they lost their jobs.
Castaneda told ABC: ‘I left the second week in January, so the shredding was going on until I left and I have no idea if it continues,’ she said.
‘There was a great interest in the accounting documents which were stored in the storage facility.’
Some of the documents allegedly destroyed date back to 13 December, more than a month after the SEC announced it would investigate the finances at Enron. The destroyed documents are believed to include spreadsheets as well as ‘Jedi II’ documents, which were used to hide debts from investors.
News of Enron document shredding comes just a week after it was discovered that David Duncan, Andersen’s, lead audit partner rushed to destroy documents at the firm’s Houston office, the office responsible for the Enron audit, after being subpoenaed by US regulators.
Duncan has subsequently been fired from his position.