Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm accused of bungling Enron audit, said last night it would fire its lead partner in charge of reviewing the company's books.
It said David Duncan ordered that Enron documents be destroyed after learning federal regulators wanted to see them.
The dismissal is the first move by Andersen to pin blame on someone for mishandling Enron. It is also the latest in a series of blows to Andersen's reputation as one of the world's top accounting firms.
Andersen said 'thousands' of e-mails and 'large numbers' of paper documents relating to Enron were quickly destroyed shortly after Duncan learned on October 23 of a request by the Securities and Exchange Commission for information on Enron's audit.
Duncan was not available for comment, but a lawyer representing him said the partner had followed instructions from an Andersen in-house lawyer. Duncan is set to meet congressional investigators probing Enron's collapse on Wednesday.
Andersen faces ruin over lawsuits questioning its handling of Enron, with insurance unlikely to cover potential payouts, according to industry experts.
