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Ex-Enron chief will refuse to testify

Former Enron Corp chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay will refuse to testify on Tuesday when he appears under subpoena before a congressional committee probing the collapse of the energy trading giant, his spokeswoman said on Sunday.

"Under the instruction of counsel, Lay will exercise his Fifth Amendment right at the Tuesday hearing," Kelly Kimberly said, declining further comment. The amendment extends constitutional protection against self-incrimination.

Lay was subpoenaed to appear before a US Senate committee after he backed out of a voluntary appearance last Monday. Lay declined to testify after his lawyer complained about "prosecutorial" comments by lawmakers on television talk shows a day earlier.

The statement from Kimberly confirmed a prediction earlier on Sunday from Sen Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, Democrat chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that was scheduled to hear from Lay.

"Lay has got a good lawyer," Hollings told CBS television's "Face the Nation" program. "I can't see, with things having gotten worse all week long, him testifying now."

Also appearing on the CBS program were two Republicans leading the investigation in the US House of Representatives, who questioned whether former Enron Corp chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling had been truthful while testifying last Thursday and said he could be prosecuted for perjury if not.

Skilling took no blame for the bankrupt energy trader's collapse and said he had no reason to believe it was in financial trouble when he left last August.

The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, said he did not believe Skilling's claims and said the former CEO "may have put himself in some legal jeopardy as a result."

"You can't come to Congress, take the oath to tell the truth, and then not tell the truth," Tauzin said.

"We're hearing from others in the corporation that he came to us and told us a lot of untruths. If he did that, if that is true," he could face perjury charges, the Congressman said. "That could happen."

"All of us wanted to know the truth, and I don't think we got it."

Greenwood, chairman of the House Energy subcommittee on oversight and investigation that heard from Skilling, was also skeptical despite the fact that Skilling testified voluntarily before the panel probing off-the-books partnerships and questionable accounting at Enron.

"It was the dog ate my homework," Greenwood said. "Unfortunately, I don't think he was forthcoming with us at all."

On Decemebr 2, Enron filed for bankruptcy, wiping out thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in equity held by employees and other investors.

The collapse of the Houston-based company that was once the seventh largest in America, is under investigation by the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and nine congressional panels.

Four other top Enron executives have refused to testify before lawmakers, citing their constitutional protection against self-incrimination.

The House Financial Services Committee, which had also expected to hear from Lay last week, has subpoenaed him to appear next Thursday.

Like Skilling, Lay would face tough questions about business deals that critics charge hid massive debts and inflated profits at Enron until it filed for bankruptcy.

Lay resigned as chairman and chief executive of Enron on January 23. He stepped down from the board last week.

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