Securities: No Challenge on Enron Overturned Convictions

A published report says that government prosecutors will not challenge an appeal court's decision to overturn the convictions of former Merrill Lynch & Co. executives. In August, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to throw out fraud and conspiracy charges against Daniel Bayly, Merrill Lynch's former head of investment banking, James A. Brown, the former head of the firm's asset lease group, Robert Furst and William Fuhs. However, prosecutors did not say whether Bayly, Brown, and Furst will be retried for their participation in a fraudulent deal that helped Enron to appear profitable.

Fed Won't Fight Overturned Convictions

All four men were convicted for conspiring to help Enron meet earning targets in late 1999 by taking part in a plan in which Merrill Lynch pretended to buy three power barges from Enron. The appeals court decided that federal prosecutors overstepped their boundaries when they presented jurors with a theory that the defendant deprived Enron of its right to their honest services.