Former Enron boss Skilling says he can't recall key events

WASHINGTON -- Former Enron executive Jeff Skilling testified Thursday under tough questioning by lawmakers that he was unable to recall key events surrounding the off-the-books partnership arrangements that sent the energy trading company into bankruptcy.

He said he knew of no wrongdoing,

Skilling, the former chief executive officer, said he didn't recall longtime colleague Andrew Fastow -- who collected $30 million for running the partnerships -- telling a board of directors meeting that Skilling would approve all the partnerships.

"You never heard" that statement? asked Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La.

"I was in and out of the meeting" and "I don't recall if I was there specifically at the time Andy" made the comments, said Skilling.

He said the board meeting in West Palm Beach, Fla., took place under difficult conditions because the electric power had gone out and "the room was dark."

When he resigned his post in August, "I did not believe the company was in any financial peril," Skilling said in his first public testimony on the Enron disaster.

And the company's financial statements, "as far as I knew, accurately reflected" Enron's condition, Skilling told the House Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee.

Skilling said he had no knowledge that the partnerships run by his longtime colleague Andrew Fastow were designed to conceal losses.

"It was my understanding that the purpose of the transactions was to provide a real hedge" -- locking in profits from technology investments, the former CEO said.

Pleading the Fifth

Skilling's testimony came as Fastow and three other current and former Enron executives exercised their Fifth Amendment right not to testify at the House hearing.

In contrast to Skilling's testimony, Enron's new chief operating officer, Jeffrey McMahon, said earlier Thursday that he was transferred to a new job shortly after he complained to Skilling about the obscure partnerships in a 30-minute meeting in March 2000. McMahon was treasurer at the time of the meeting.

"His parting words to me were he understood all my concerns and he would remedy the situation," McMahon told the subcommittee. McMahon said Skilling called shortly after the meeting and offered him a job elsewhere in the company.

McMahon was named Enron's president and chief operating officer last week.

His testimony followed the refusal by Fastow and ex-executive Michael Kopper to testify. The two are at the center of the partnerships which kept hundreds of millions of dollars in Enron debt off the company's books.

"On the advice of my counsel I respectfully decline to answer the questions," said Fastow.