Official With Export-Import Bank Offered Support to Lay
A top official at the Export-Import Bank offered his assistance to former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay in November as the energy company was careening toward bankruptcy, newly released documents show.
“As I read the newspapers day in and day out, I know that these must be trying times for you and your family,” wrote Eduardo Aguirre, who at the time was awaiting confirmation as vice chairman of the Export-Import Bank, an agency that helps U.S. companies expand overseas. The Houston banker was nominated to the post by President Bush.
“Please remember that I value our friendship and that I’m only as close as the phone if there is anything I can do for you,” according to the e-mail, obtained by The Times under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The federal agency has provided $650 million in loans and loan guarantees to Enron-related projects overseas since 1993. About $515 million is still outstanding.
At the time of the e-mail, Aguirre was serving as an advisor to the bank as he awaited Senate confirmation. A bank spokeswoman said Aguirre’s e-mail was of a personal nature, unrelated to the loans.
“He had a personal relationship with Ken Lay,” bank spokeswoman Cheryl Crispen said. “It was not related to bank business.”
Enron executives also served on the bank’s advisory board, documents show.
Contacts between Enron executives and Bush administration officials have been the subject of numerous government inquiries since the beginning of the year, when it was revealed that Lay reached out to U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill and Commerce Secretary Don Evans as his energy company was about to collapse.
There has been no evidence that administration officials offered any assistance to the company, which was a major Bush campaign contributor.
The Justice Department recently ordered the Export-Import Bank to preserve all records related to Enron.
A similar U.S. agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corp., is investigating whether Enron misrepresented its finances in obtaining loans for several projects.
Crispen said the bank is cooperating in the investigation, but officials are optimistic that the bank’s Enron-related loans--which are separate from the company’s bankruptcy filing--will remain in good standing.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, one of several committees investigating Enron, suggested Monday that Aquirre should distance himself from Enron-related inquiries.
“I don’t have any reason to believe that Eduardo Aguirre’s friendship with Kenneth Lay is inhibiting the Ex-Im Bank’s disclosure of its dealings with Enron,” Grassley said in a statement. “Nonetheless, it’s appropriate for Mr. Aguirre to revisit whether he should limit his involvement in investigative matters regarding Enron to avoid leaving any appearance of bias toward the company.”
