Enron's new $5bn black hole
Investigators extend probe to key firm at heart of energy giant's 3,000 subsidiaries

The Bush files - Observer special

Jamie Doward, deputy business editor
Observer

Sunday January 20, 2002


Investigators probing the accounts of collapsed energy giant Enron are examining what happened to more than $5 billion in loans and investments the company made to subsidiaries kept off its balance sheet. The scale of the black hole opening up looks as if it could dwarf previous estimates.

Investigators are already examining a series of unde clared transactions between the US company and two Cayman Islands firms - LJM1 and LJM2 - set up by the firm's former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow.

Now it has emerged that by 31 December 2000 Enron had also invested, or loaned, $5.3bn to a number of companies in which it had stakes, according to papers filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These included two ailing firms that had been harming their par ent's financial performance, water specialist Azurix and the Dabhol Power Company of India. The subsidiaries - part of a network of more than 3,000 firms linked to Enron - were claimed by the company to be 'unconsolidated affiliates', which do not have to be shown on balance sheets.

Fastow's activities have already forced Enron to restate its accounts so that they show a $1.2bn reduction in shareholders' equity. And a special committee Enron established has concluded that further black holes may be found.

Now investigators are believed to be turning their attention to one key 'unconsolidated' subsidiary, WhiteWing Associates, which itself has 75 subsidiaries.

WhiteWing crops up throughout Enron's SEC filings. In 2000 and 1999, respectively, Enron sold '$632 million and $192m of investments and other assets to WhiteWing', the papers say. Enron refuses to discuss WhiteWing, which in turn was involved in several transactions with LJM1 and LJM2.

WhiteWing lists an investment vehicle, Osprey Trust, as a limited partner. The trust is owned by a number of anonymous financial institutions - which suggests the investigators will have to cast their net far wider to understand the true complexities behind Enron's downfall.