Houston, Aug 23: Former employees of Enron Corp have won the company's support in their quest to recover $53 million paid to a select group of executives a month before the energy giant filed for bankruptcy.
Enron filed a request yesterday in support of talks to recover from 40 per cent to 90 per cent of the withdrawals that 114 current and former Enron employees were allowed to make from their deferred-compensation accounts.



Any money recovered would normally go to creditors. In this case, the committee representing employees is negotiating with Enron and its creditors for part of the money to be distributed directly to former employees, the Houston Chronicle reported in today's editions.



Federal bankruptcy rules allow for the return of funds improperly paid out by a company in the 90 days before it files for bankruptcy.

Enron filed a request yesterday in support of talks to recover from 40 per cent to 90 per cent of the withdrawals that 114 current and former Enron employees were allowed to make from their deferred-compensation accounts.



Any money recovered would normally go to creditors. In this case, the committee representing employees is negotiating with Enron and its creditors for part of the money to be distributed directly to former employees, the Houston Chronicle reported in today's editions.


Federal bankruptcy rules allow for the return of funds improperly paid out by a company in the 90 days before it files for bankruptcy.



Under a proposed settlement, those who received payments and are still working at Enron must return 40 per cent of the money they received.


Employees who were laid off by Enron in the last 20 months must repay between 40 per cent and 85 per cent of the money, based on how long they remained with the company after bankruptcy.


People who left Enron voluntarily or were fired for performance reasons must repay 90 per cent.

Deferred compensation allows executives to put off salaries and bonuses until retirement, when they are in lower tax brackets.
Bureau Report