Grand Jury in Houston Returns Superseding Indictment Against Former Executives at Enron and Merrill Lynch

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, Enron Task Force Director Andrew Weissmann, and Assistant Director Grant Ashley of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division announced today that a federal grand jury in Houston has returned a superseding indictment against four former Merrill Lynch executives and two former Enron executives.

The superseding indictment was handed down in a case in which it is alleged that the Enron and Merrill Lynch executives engaged in a year-end 1999 deal (known as the "Nigerian Barge" transaction) involving the parking of Enron assets with Merrill Lynch. That arrangement allegedly allowed Enron to fraudulently enhance the year-end 1999 financial position that it presented to the public and used to pay its executives unwarranted bonuses. The case had been scheduled to be tried in Houston on June 7, 2004, but the trial was continued by the district court until Aug. 16, 2004.

The superseding indictment adds against all defendants two wire fraud charges arising out of the Nigerian barge transaction, and adds a false statement count against Dan O. Boyle, 47, of Houston, a former vice president in Enron's Global Finance unit.

The six defendants charged in the eight-count superseding indictment are: Boyle; Daniel Bayly, 56, of Darien, Connecticut, the former head of the Global Investment Banking division at Merrill Lynch; James A. Brown, 51, of Darien, Connecticut, the former head of Merrill Lynch's Strategic Asset Lease and Finance group; William R. Fuhs, 35, of Denver, Colorado, a former vice president in Merrill Lynch's Strategic Asset Lease and Finance group; Robert S. Furst, 43, of Dallas, Texas, the former Enron relationship manager for Merrill Lynch in the investment banking division, and Sheila K. Kahanek, 38, of Houston, Texas, a former senior director in Enron's Asia/Pacific/Africa/China ("APACHI") transaction support group.

If convicted of all charges against them, Bayly, Furst and Kahanek face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Brown and Fuhs face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted of all charges against them. Boyle faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

In a separate agreement reached with the Department of Justice in September of 2003, Merrill Lynch accepted responsibility for the conduct of its employees. Merrill Lynch also agreed to cooperate fully with the continuing Enron investigation and to implement a series of sweeping reforms addressing the integrity of client and third-party transactions. Merrill Lynch also agreed to the appointment of a monitor to oversee the implementation and enforcement of the reforms for an 18-month period.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Enron Task Force investigation is continuing.