Enron Troubles Only the Tip of the Iceberg?

Dealings with a related party have tarnished Enron's (ENE Quote) reputation and crushed its stock, but it looks like that case is far from unique.

The battered energy trader has done business with at least 15 other related entities, according to documents supplied by lawyers for people suing Enron. Moreover, Enron's new CFO, who has been portrayed by bulls as opposing the related-party dealings of his predecessor, serves on 12 of these entities. And Enron board members are listed as having directorships and other roles at a Houston-based related entity called ES Power 3.

The extent of Enron's dealings with these companies, or the value of its holdings in them, couldn't be immediately determined. But the existence of these partnerships could feed investors' fears that Enron has billions of dollars of liabilities that don't show up on its balance sheet. If that's so, the company's financial strength and growth prospects could be much less than has generally been assumed on Wall Street, where the company was long treated with kid gloves. ...