Charges likely against 3 from Merrill Lynch

[Nottingham]

Charges likely against 3 from Merrill Lynch
Enron Task Force targets ex-employees in barge deal
By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES

Enron prosecutors are expected to seek new charges this week against three former Merrill Lynch employees involved in a Nigerian barge deal the government says helped Enron falsely bolster its 1999 earnings.
If charged or indicted by the Enron grand jury today, they could surrender as early as Wednesday. Enron prosecutors have typically indicted defendants one day and asked them to surrender to the Houston Federal Bureau of Investigation office the next morning.

Also on Monday, the special Enron grand jury returned a sealed indictment that apparently refines and replaces the previous 218-count indictment accusing seven defendants of fraud in connection with the bankrupt company's Internet broadband business.
Prosecutor Ben Campbell, who accompanied a grand juror when the indictment was presented in closed court Monday, has previously said he planned to reindict the Enron broadband case this month. Though there has been speculation that one or two defendants could be added to the broadband case, Campbell was before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marcia Crone for only a short time Monday and it thus appeared unlikely he had requested new arrest warrants.

Prosecutors could ask the jurors today to consider indicting the former Merrill Lynch employees. Enron prosecutor Andrew Weissmann earlier this year presented them weeks of testimony from former or current Merrill Lynch employees.
Though six months ago the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against four former Merrill Lynch executives, partially over the same Nigerian barge deal, it is likely that only two of those men will face criminal charges.



snip...

Despite a federal rule saying indictments should be returned in open court, some Houston-based magistrates like Crone close their courtrooms, especially when the charges are sealed. The judge did so before accepting the Enron indictment Monday.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2101936

So many hands in the Enron till! :bounce: