But perhaps the most damning part of the videotape is when Skilling jokingly describes how Enron could pull off 600% revenue growth for the coming year.
"We're going to move from mark-to-market accounting to something I call HFV, or hypothetical future value accounting," Skilling jokes while reading from a script. "If we do that, we can add a kazillion dollars to the bottom line."
Richard Causey, Enron's former chief accounting officer, then chimed in.
"I've been on the job for a week managing earnings, and it's easier than I thought it would be," Causey said, referring to the accounting trick. "I can't even count fast enough with the earnings rolling in."
That joke turned out to be eerily prescient. Causey was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy two years ago. He pleaded guilty in December to securities fraud in exchange for a seven-year prison sentence and agreed to provide the government with information that can be used to pursue convictions against Skilling and Lay.
Jason Leopold spent two years covering California's electricity crisis as Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires. Jason has spent the last year cultivating sources close to the CIA leak investigation, and is a regular contributor to t r u t h o u t.
Originally published and copyrighted 2006 at www.truthout.org
"We're going to move from mark-to-market accounting to something I call HFV, or hypothetical future value accounting," Skilling jokes while reading from a script. "If we do that, we can add a kazillion dollars to the bottom line."
Richard Causey, Enron's former chief accounting officer, then chimed in.
"I've been on the job for a week managing earnings, and it's easier than I thought it would be," Causey said, referring to the accounting trick. "I can't even count fast enough with the earnings rolling in."
Jason Leopold spent two years covering California's electricity crisis as Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires. Jason has spent the last year cultivating sources close to the CIA leak investigation, and is a regular contributor to t r u t h o u t.
Originally published and copyrighted 2006 at www.truthout.org
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