Enron Corp.’s former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was indicted by a Houston grand jury Wednesday and is expected to turn himself into the FBI authorities Thursday, according to unnamed sources quoted by The Houston Chronicle.

The sources said a sealed indictment named the 50-year-old Skilling, making him the top Enron executive to be charged so far in connection with the energy trading giant’s spectacular fall from grace in late 2001, according to the newspaper.

The foreman of the specially-formed Enron grand jury informed U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy at 4 p.m. Wednesday that he had one sealed indicted from the panel, the report said. Enron Task Force prosecutors requested that the indictment be sealed and the courtroom be cleared of spectators.

Skilling has repeatedly disavowed any knowledge that Enron’s infamous special purpose entities (SPEs) that led to the company’s collapse were intended to hide debt and boost earnings.

Skilling had been chief operating officer for four years before being named CEO in early 2001. He resigned for personal reasons about six month later, just months before Enron collapsed into bankruptcy.

Prosecutors apparently have been working with former CFO Andrew Fastow on the Skilling case. Fastow pleaded guilty in January to two fraud counts, and he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a 10-year sentence.

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