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(CNN) -- Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow and his wife have agreed to plead guilty for their roles in the accounting scandal that rocked the corporate world and brought down the energy giant, sources with knowledge of the case said Tuesday.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, would not disclose details of the agreement.
It's expected the couple will enter their pleas in federal court in Houston Wednesday, the sources said, adding that any deal could still fall apart.
Fastow spokesman Gordon Andrew refused comment on the report, and the Justice Department had no comment.
Fastow and his wife Lea Fastow have been negotiating with the government for months. An attorney for Lea Fastow said last week the two were trying to get an agreement that would allow one of them to remain at home with their two children while the other was serving prison time.
Andrew Fastow is the highest-ranking executive charged in the Enron scandal, and is the alleged mastermind behind the web of complex accounting deals that led to the energy giant's bankruptcy more than two years ago.
A tentative trial date is set for April 20 for him.
If a plea agreement is indeed reached, Fastow could implicate his bosses, former Enron CEOs Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay, who are still under investigation but have not been charged.
Andrew Fastow was indicted on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in October 2002 by a federal grand jury in Houston. A superseding indictment returned last May increased the number of charges against him to nearly 100 counts.
The charges against him allege that he masterminded a series of schemes that hid Enron's debt, inflated profits and allowed him to skim millions of dollars for himself, his family and friends and colleagues.
Lea Fastow, once an assistant treasurer at Enron, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and filing false tax returns for collaborating with her husband in the alleged scheme years after she left the company.
She resigned from the company in 1997, a year before her husband was named chief financial officer.
Lea Fastow is scheduled to stand trial February 10.
Michael Kopper, who worked for Andrew Fastow, was the first Enron executive to plead guilty. In August 2002, he pled guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He also agreed to help investigators.
Kopper agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pay $12 million in restitution as part of a plea-bargain deal. He was released on $5 million bail. (Full story)
CNNfn correspondent Jen Rogers contributed to this report.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, would not disclose details of the agreement.
It's expected the couple will enter their pleas in federal court in Houston Wednesday, the sources said, adding that any deal could still fall apart.
Fastow spokesman Gordon Andrew refused comment on the report, and the Justice Department had no comment.
Fastow and his wife Lea Fastow have been negotiating with the government for months. An attorney for Lea Fastow said last week the two were trying to get an agreement that would allow one of them to remain at home with their two children while the other was serving prison time.
Andrew Fastow is the highest-ranking executive charged in the Enron scandal, and is the alleged mastermind behind the web of complex accounting deals that led to the energy giant's bankruptcy more than two years ago.
A tentative trial date is set for April 20 for him.
If a plea agreement is indeed reached, Fastow could implicate his bosses, former Enron CEOs Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay, who are still under investigation but have not been charged.
Andrew Fastow was indicted on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in October 2002 by a federal grand jury in Houston. A superseding indictment returned last May increased the number of charges against him to nearly 100 counts.
The charges against him allege that he masterminded a series of schemes that hid Enron's debt, inflated profits and allowed him to skim millions of dollars for himself, his family and friends and colleagues.
Lea Fastow, once an assistant treasurer at Enron, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and filing false tax returns for collaborating with her husband in the alleged scheme years after she left the company.
She resigned from the company in 1997, a year before her husband was named chief financial officer.
Lea Fastow is scheduled to stand trial February 10.
Michael Kopper, who worked for Andrew Fastow, was the first Enron executive to plead guilty. In August 2002, he pled guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He also agreed to help investigators.
Kopper agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pay $12 million in restitution as part of a plea-bargain deal. He was released on $5 million bail. (Full story)
CNNfn correspondent Jen Rogers contributed to this report.
He's going to jail. Let's hope he is able to implicate Lay at last.
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