STATEMENT OF ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY
ON THE VERDICTS IN THE ENRON NIGERIAN BARGE TRIAL:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division issued the following statement on the conviction today of five defendants in the Enron Nigerian barge trial in Houston, Texas:

“Today’s verdict signals that executives committing corporate fraud will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted. Those who aid such fraud will meet the same fate. This second Enron-related trial is a milestone in bringing both an Enron executive, and Merrill Lynch executives who aided and abetted the fraud at Enron, to justice. Today’s verdict is part of the Department of Justice’s two-prong approach: first, the verdict metes out individual justice as to the five defendants convicted today; second, the verdict goes hand-in-hand with the sweeping reforms mandated by the government’s deferred prosecution agreement with the Merrill Lynch firm. That agreement includes strong, systematic measures to deter the kind of income manipulation that Merrill Lynch employees and executives aided and abetted, so that others won’t be hurt again by this type of criminal conduct.”

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