HOUSTON (voa) – The accounting firm Arthur Andersen has been indicted for obstruction of justice in the case of the bankrupt energy trader Enron.
The indictment was issued Thursday by a grand jury in Houston, Texas. It says Arthur Andersen destroyed “tons of paper” and used a paper shredder “virtually constantly” while an investigation was underway following Enron’s financial collapse last year.
Arthur Andersen reacted with an angry statement, saying the indictment amounted to a gross abuse of government power.
Earlier Thursday, the embattled Chicago-based firm was dealt another blow, after efforts to sell part of its business to two rivals failed.
Deloitte-and-Touche and Ernst-and-Young said they were not interested in buying Andersen, due to concerns the firm may be facing huge legal liabilities for its involvement with Enron. Andersen had been Enron’s auditor for more than a decade.
During these years, Enron presented the public with a bright financial picture that showed billions of dollars in profits, while huge amounts of debt were being kept off the company’s balance sheets through a complicated system.
The Enron collapse has also prompted many of Andersen’s other clients to drop the firm.
