Business fraud
Three years ago, Andrew and Lea Fastow were riding high -- with a multimillion-dollar mansion under construction in an exclusive Houston neighborhood, an oil-rich circle of friends and the means to ensure the future and fulfill the hearts' desires of two small boys. Lea Weingarten Fastow, a ponytailed stay-at-home mother, will stand trial in February on conspiracy and tax charges, a judge ruled earlier this month. Her husband of nearly 20 years, former Enron chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow, goes to trial two months later on fraud and money-laundering allegations that could send him away for decades.
Unless one of the Fastows negotiates a deal that results in a much reduced sentence or one or both of them are found not guilty, the socially prominent couple could spend the next several years behind bars while their sons, both under age 10, grow up without their parents around.
The emotional drama has played out quietly over the past month, as lawyers for Lea Fastow tried unsuccessfully to strike a deal that would have sent her to prison immediately and delivered her back home in time for Andrew Fastow's trial to begin in April, according to sources close to the negotiations. Andrew Fastow repeatedly has sought to delay his wife's case, arguing in court papers that he would take the stand in her defense and potentially exonerate her, if he could testify after his own trial concludes. But a judge has rejected the requests. Both Fastows have pleaded not guilty.
In the current wave of business fraud cases, entire families have been caught up in criminal prosecutions, either because the probes are focused on family-controlled business or because -- when times were good -- corporate officials sought to make their families rich by putting them on the payroll or including them as investors.
Early next year, another family drama will play out in a Manhattan courtroom, where 79-year-old founder John J. Rigas will stand trial alongside his sons, former corporate officials Timothy and Michael, who are accused of looting hundreds of millions of dollars from cable television company Adelphia Communications Corp. The Rigases have denied wrongdoing.
Tougher government tactics in corporate fraud cases and increasing sophistication among possible defendants, especially working women, means more such family prosecutions will take place in the future, legal experts said. Indeed, government lawyers for years have moved to indict spouses and other complicit relatives of targets ensnared in espionage, drug and tax cases.
"You're going to see fewer situations where the spouse is getting an outright pass," said Preston Burton, a former federal prosecutor who now defends business executives and companies. "Forget the normal pressure that a criminal matter places on a family. Can you imagine the domestic pressure they're going through?"
Imprisonment can take a heavy toll on families, of course, when even one member of the family is involved. Nearly 1.5 million minor children had a parent in state or federal prison in 1999, according to the most recent report from the Bureau of [next page]