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Enron Corp. - University of California | Office of The President

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831. Common to each <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enron</strong>'s related-party disclosures, which Vinson & Elkins drafted<br />

and approved is that the "disclosures" conceal and/or misrepresent material matters known to Vinson<br />

& Elkins, such as: (i) that the related-party transactions were not true commercial, economic<br />

transactions, comparable to transactions with independent third parties (e.g., the purpose or bogus<br />

nature <strong>of</strong> the transactions); (ii) the substance and effect <strong>of</strong> related-party transactions on <strong>Enron</strong> and<br />

the Company's financial statements (e.g., the transactions should have been consolidated in <strong>Enron</strong>'s<br />

financial statements); and (iii) Fastow's true financial interest in or compensation from the LJM<br />

partnerships.<br />

Vinson & Elkins Concealed the Phony Nature<br />

<strong>of</strong> the LJM and Raptors Transactions By<br />

Suggesting the Deals Were Fair and Legitimate,<br />

i.e., Comparable To Similar Transactions With<br />

Unrelated Third Parties<br />

832. In each <strong>of</strong> the related-party disclosures drafted and approved as adequate by Vinson<br />

& Elkins, assertions were made to give the impression that each <strong>of</strong> the transactions referenced were<br />

fair to the Company, not contrived, but instead were made at arm's length, like transactions with<br />

independent third parties. In <strong>Enron</strong>'s Report on Form 10-Q filed 8/16/99, Vinson & Elkins drafted<br />

and approved the adequacy <strong>of</strong> such a statement: "[m]anagement believes that the terms <strong>of</strong> the<br />

transactions were reasonable and no less favorable than the terms <strong>of</strong> similar arrangements with<br />

unrelated third parties." Although the wording changed slightly in this "disclosure" repeatedly<br />

drafted and approved by Vinson & Elkins in <strong>Enron</strong>'s other SEC filings until the end <strong>of</strong> the Class<br />

Period, the substance <strong>of</strong> the representation was the same.<br />

833. But the transactions were bogus, contrived to enrich individual defendants and, as<br />

<strong>Enron</strong>'s Special Investigative Committee stated, "to accomplish favorable financial statement results,<br />

not to achieve bona fide economic objectives or to transfer risk." Vinson & Elkins knew this<br />

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