Washingon, Jan 15: In a deal giving him 10 years in prison, former Enron Chief Financial officer Andrew S Fastow has pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges and agreed to help investigators learn that the company's top executives knew about its crumbling finances. 44-year-old Fastow, hailed as a financial "wizard" who organised secretive partnerships which enabled the Houston company to show huge profits when it was being battered, admitted to working with unidentified coconspirators to cook Enron's books and to keep more than USD 45 million for himself, in a courtroom packed with relatives and former Enron employees yesterday.

He is the highest ranking Enron executive to admit wrongdoing and cooperate with prosecutors, who continue to investigate widespread earnings manipulation at the Houston Energy Company. Under the terms of the settlement, he will serve 10 years in prison and three years in probation.

Legal experts said the 10-year prison term was unusually stiff for a white collar criminal who agreed to help prosecutors.

Bureau Report