Arthur Andersen Settlement Approved for Enron Investors

Enron investors won final approval of a $72.5 million settlement resolving claims against Arthur Andersen*, the defunct energy trader's former auditor.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon (Bush I appointee and crony) in Houston approved the accord yesterday after attorneys for the investors said it was the most they could get from what is left of the accounting firm. Shareholders claimed Arthur Andersen helped Enron's former officials perpetrate frauds that cost investors as much as $40 billion.

snip...

Arthur Andersen shut down its auditing practice and almost all of its offices after being convicted in 2002 of obstruction of justice for destroying e-mails related to Enron. The Supreme Court threw out the conviction in 2005, saying Harmon incorrectly instructed jurors about the law governing the case.

Andersen's workforce of 85,000 has dwindled to about 200 lawyers and administrators, who oversee litigation and manage its remaining sites, including a conference center near its Chicago headquarters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902199.html

*(Outsourcing king Accenture's original owners)