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Lawmaker sees insider trading 'evidence' at Enron

The ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Monday there was "pretty strong evidence" of insider trading as well as false accounting in the fall of the energy-trading giant Enron Corp.

Rep John Dingell of Michigan, whose committee is one of those investigating Enron, spoke on CBS television's "The Early Show."

"There's pretty strong evidence of insider trading," at Enron, Dingell said, adding that there was "clear evidence of failure to file honest and correct annual reports" required by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"There may be a number of other things here which were going on, including possible insider trading and possible misuse of insider accounts," the lawmaker continued.

"False accounting appears to be a very major problem, and it appears that both Enron and the accounting firm were involved in this matter."

Andersen, Enron's accounting firm, has admitted that it destroyed a number of Enron documents.

Spokesmen for Enron and Andersen could not immediately be reached for comment.

Thousands of employees lost their pensions and life savings in the downfall of Enron last year after the company acknowledged several hundred million dollars of previously undisclosed liabilities. The company filed for bankruptcy on December 2.

Some Enron shareholders have filed a lawsuit accusing a group of 29 Enron executives and directors of "unlawful insider trading" and misleading the investing public.

Several congressional committees are investigating Enron's demise, and some lawmakers on those committees have said they want to probe whether Enron employees and shareholders were deceived. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigating.

Rep Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, wrote to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay over the weekend to ask him to explain why he sent out optimistic e-mails to Enron employees in August about the company's prospects.

Dingell is one of 188 House members who received campaign contributions from Enron. The donations to Dingell's campaign totaled $9,000 since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.

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