Choose a time period below to explore the scandal.

2002

January 9, 2002
The U.S. Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation of Enron.

January 10, 2002
Arthur Andersen announces that employees in its Houston division had destroyed documents related to Enron.

January 23, 2002
Kenneth Lay resigns as chairman and CEO of Enron.

January 25, 2002
Cliff Baxter commits suicide soon after he had agreed to testify to Congress in the Enron case. He leaves a suicide note that doesn’t mention Enron but says, "Where there was once great pride now it's gone.”

February 2, 2002
The Powers Report, a 218-page summary of an internal investigation into Enron's collapse led by University of Texas School of Law Dean William Powers, spreads blame among self-dealing executives and negligent directors.

February 7, 2002
Former CFO Andrew Fastow and his former top aide Michael Kopper invoke the Fifth Amendment before Congress; former CEO Jeffrey Skilling testifies, saying he knew of no problems at Enron when he resigned.

March 14, 2002
Former Enron auditor Arthur Andersen LLP indicted for obstruction of justice for destroying tons of Enron-related documents as the SEC began investigating the energy company's finances in October 2001.

April 9, 2002
David Duncan, Arthur Andersen's former top Enron auditor, pleads guilty to obstruction.

June 15, 2002
Arthur Andersen convicted of obstruction after a six-week trial that included 72 hours of jury deliberations spread over ten days.

August 21, 2002
Michael Kopper pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy; acknowledges funneling millions of dollars to Fastow through myriad financial schemes and agrees to cooperate with investigators.

August 31, 2002
Arthur Andersen surrenders its license to practice accounting in the United States. 85,000 people lose their jobs. Nine billion dollars in annual earnings disappears.

October 16, 2002
Arthur Andersen sentenced to probation and a 500,000-dollar fine; firm already banned from auditing public companies with only a few hundred employees left on the payroll after its conviction.

October 31, 2002
Fastow indicted on 78 charges of conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and other counts.

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