Fastow Charged With Mail Fraud, Money Laundering

Updated from 12:17 p.m. EDT

The long arm of the law finally reached out today and grabbed one of Enron's former top executives, as Andrew Fastow, the energy company's former chief financial officer, was charged with several counts of securities fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

A criminal complaint filed against Fastow alleges that the former Enron officer used a series of partnerships he controlled not only to help Enron carry out a deliberate strategy of inflating its profits, but to illegally enrich himself by skimming off profits from these deals.

Fastow is the highest-ranking former Enron executive to be charged in the investigation. The Enron scandal, which began unfolding just over a year ago, sparked a tidal wave of concern about corporate fraud and corporate accounting gimmicks. ...