<P> Michael W. Krautz, a former Enron accountant, was among the accused who was acquitted of charges related to the scandal . Represented by Barry Pollack, Krautz was acquitted of federal criminal fraud charges after a month - long jury trial . </P> <P> Arthur Andersen was charged with and found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding the thousands of documents and deleting e-mails and company files that tied the firm to its audit of Enron . Although only a small number of Arthur Andersen's employees were involved with the scandal, the firm was effectively put out of business; the SEC is not allowed to accept audits from convicted felons . The company surrendered its CPA license on August 31, 2002, and 85,000 employees lost their jobs . The conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court due to the jury not being properly instructed on the charge against Andersen . The Supreme Court ruling theoretically left Andersen free to resume operations . However, the damage to the Andersen name has been so great that it has not returned as a viable business even on a limited scale . </P> <P> Giles Darby, David Bermingham, and Gary Mulgrew worked for Greenwich NatWest . The three British men had worked with Fastow on a special purpose entity he had started called Swap Sub . When Fastow was being investigated by the SEC, the three men met with the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) in November 2001 to discuss their interactions with Fastow . In June 2002, the U.S. issued warrants for their arrest on seven counts of wire fraud, and they were then extradited . On July 12, a potential Enron witness scheduled to be extradited to the U.S., Neil Coulbeck, was found dead in a park in north - east London . Coulbeck's death was eventually ruled to have been a suicide . The U.S. case alleged that Coulbeck and others conspired with Fastow . In a plea bargain in November 2007, the trio plead guilty to one count of wire fraud while the other six counts were dismissed . Darby, Bermingham, and Mulgrew were each sentenced to 37 months in prison . In August 2010, Bermingham and Mulgrew retracted their confessions . </P> <P> Enron's shareholders lost $74 billion in the four years before the company's bankruptcy ($40 to $45 billion was attributed to fraud). As Enron had nearly $67 billion that it owed creditors, employees and shareholders received limited, if any, assistance aside from severance from Enron . To pay its creditors, Enron held auctions to sell assets including art, photographs, logo signs, and its pipelines . </P>

Lay told securities analysts that the major loss was caused by