HOUSTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Former Enron Corp. executive Jeff Skilling has accepted an $85 million settlement proposal with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The agreement, announced Thursday by Labor, also requires Skilling to waive his right to benefits from Enron's pension plans and be permanently barred from ever serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The settlement acknowledges Skilling is already subject to an order of forfeiture obtained by the Justice Department's Enron Task Force. That order requires the establishment of a $45 million restitution fund for victims of Enron-related fraud, including plan participants and securities investors.
Labor's settlement provides if Skilling's convictions are overturned or vacated and the restitution fund is dissolved, Skilling will still pay $2.5 million to the participants and beneficiaries in the company's savings and employee stock ownership plans plus $500,000 in penalties to the department.
Skilling was the chief executive of the once-mighty energy trading company before it collapsed in an accounting scandal for which he has been convicted and sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison.
