Senator Feinstein Calls on Attorney General to
Conduct Criminal Investigation into Enron, other Energy Companies
May 7, 2002

Washington, DC - In light of revelations about Enron's strategies to manipulate the Western energy market, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to conduct a criminal investigation to determine whether Enron and other energy companies violated any federal statutes as they engaged in energy trading and delivery of natural gas and electricity.

In a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, Senator Feinstein wrote: "I am writing to ask that you institute a criminal investigation to determine whether federal fraud statutes or any other laws were violated by Enron and other energy companies engaged in energy trading and delivery of natural gas and electricity to the Western Energy Market in 2000 and 2001.

In January, during a hearing before the Energy Commission, I asked Patrick Wood, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to investigate whether Enron manipulated prices in the Western Energy Market. The enclosed documents released by FERC indicate that Enron was not only manipulating prices in the West, but also engaged in a number of calculated strategies such as 'Death Star,' 'Fat Boy,' and 'Get Shorty' to either receive payment for energy not delivered or increase price. In my book, this is outright fraud.

Since Arthur Anderson (the entire company) has been indicted by the Justice Department for shredding documents, it seems to me that Enron is at least as culpable, if not more so, for creating certain schemes to perpetuate acts of fraud on consumers under the guise of corporate strategies.

Because UBS Warburg has purchased Enron's trading entity, I am particularly concerned that the same manipulative trading strategies may continue to be in place today. I ask that you launch a thorough investigation into this matter which may well involve other energy companies that delivered energy into the Western Energy Market in 2000 and 2001 and continue to do so today."

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