Panel Suggests Perjury by Andersen’s Counsel

Arthur Andersen’s former in-house counsel, Nancy Temple, should be investigated for lying to a U.S. House committee, members of the congressional panel said in a letter to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft on Tuesday.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, headed by Rep. W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (R-La.), suggested Temple committed perjury when she testified before the panel in January. Temple may have lied by denying that an Oct. 12, 2001, e-mail to Andersen auditors on retaining Enron Corp. documents was a veiled order to destroy the material, the committee said.

“Ms. Temple sought to cloak her Oct. 12 e-mail in a false light of innocence, while concealing from the subcommittee similar efforts on her part to encourage the destruction of Enron-related documents by Andersen personnel,” Tauzin wrote in the letter.

Andersen, once the world’s fifth-largest audit firm, imploded after U.S. regulators investigated its oversight of debt-hiding partnerships that led to Enron’s bankruptcy filing. Andersen employees began shredding Enron documents after Temple sent the e-mail reminder about the firm’s policy for retaining material. Andersen was convicted of obstructing justice in June.

The Justice Department will review the committee’s information, a spokesman said.

When Temple testified before the House committee in January, she said the Oct. 12 e-mail was a response to questions from Andersen employees about how to properly document accounting issues.

Mark Hansen, Temple’s lawyer, couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. Andersen spokesman Patrick Dorton declined to comment.