are they talking about the same story???

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

From BBC news:

A crucial report into the collapse of disgraced energy giant Enron has
discovered the firm's executives bribed tax officials.

The energy giant - once the US' seventh largest firm - paid no income tax
between 1996 and 1999 according to the investigation by the Senate Finance
Committee. 

<it goes on to describe the bribes.>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2756345.stm


From the NY Times


Tax Shelters Helped Enron Fabricate Profits, Senate Is Told
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

ASHINGTON, Feb. 13 ‹ A dozen tax shelters that Enron used to operate
tax-free also fabricated huge profits, the Senate Finance Committee was told
today.

The disclosure raises disturbing new questions about the reliability of
corporate financial reporting.

The tax shelters were designed to make it appear that Enron had realized $2
billion of profits almost immediately, while saving $2 billion of federal
income taxes over a period of years, a three-volume report by the staff of
the Joint Committee on Taxation showed.
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Enron's tax department "was converted into an Enron business unit complete
with annual revenue targets," said Lindy L. Paull, chief of the joint
committee staff. "The tax department, in consultation with outside experts,
designed transactions to meet or approximate the technical requirements of
tax provisions with the primary purpose of manufacturing financial statement
income."

"At their core," she said, the tax shelters "were designed to permit Enron
to take the position that its long-term tax benefits could be converted to
current or short-term financial statement income."

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