The US Senate is to issue a subpoena in order to force former Enron CEO Mr Kenneth Lay to answer questions regarding the company's scandal-ridden collapse, a top Senator said today.
"Tomorrow I'm calling a meeting of the full committee to get authority to issue a subpoena for his appearance on Tuesday, tomorrow week, which would be (February) 12th," said Senator Ernest Hollings, chairman of the Senate Commerce committee.
Mr Lay was due to testify before a Senate panel today on what he knew of the energy giant's sudden bankruptcy, but then refused.
Senator Hollings criticised Enron for its "culture of corporate corruption" and accused the government of being unduly influenced by the Texas-based company.
"I've never seen a better example of cash-'n'-carry government than this Bush administration and Enron," he said.
Senator Byron Dorgan, who heads the subcommittee investigating the Enron debacle, said he believed the weekend release of a damning report of what led to the collapse was the reason that Mr Lay refused to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee, which cancelled today's hearing.
The report, initiated by Enron's board of directors, is "a devastating indictment of what went on inside that corporation," Senator Dorgan told reporters. Lawyers for Mr Lay say he pulled out of testimonial proceedings because premature judgements are being made on the case.
They say the hearings have taken on a "prosecutorial" tone after "inflammatory statements" by politicians on TV.
An internal investigation into Enron's financial problems says the company was run by executives with conflicting interests.
Most of the criticism is pointed at Mr Andrew Fastow, the company's former chief financial officer, and Mr Michael Kopper, another Enron employee.
Mr Fastow and others earned tens of millions of dollars brokering deals between partnerships and Enron.
The inquiry has found that employees who reported to Mr Fastow negotiated deals on the company's behalf with partnerships run by him, but they did not always best serve Enron's financial interests.
Employees complained of being pressured by Mr Fastow to accept unfavourable terms.
The investigative team, made up of three Enron board members, directed their critique at the people in charge of the financial schemes, which were used to hedge investments and hide debt off of Enron's books.
The inquiry also determined that Mr Fastow and Mr Kopper broke the company's code of ethics.
Mr Kopper declined to be interviewed by Enron's internal investigators, while Mr Fastow declined to answer most of their questions.
AFP