Update 11: Fastow Links Skilling to Losses at Enron - Forbes.com

Update 11: Fastow Links Skilling to Losses at Enron - Forbes.com:

"Former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow testified Tuesday he crafted and ran partnerships to help the company hide losses and inflate profits with the blessing of his boss, Jeffrey Skilling.

Fastow appeared contrite in his much-anticipated courtroom confrontation with Skilling and Enron founder Kenneth Lay, who are on trial for fraud and conspiracy stemming from Enron's spectacular 2001 collapse.

But he portrayed himself as a cog in a corrupt machine, with Skilling telling him, 'Get me as much of that juice as you can,' regarding the partnerships.

Fastow, 44, also fought back tears as he told jurors in a federal courtroom that his wife, Lea, pleaded guilty to a tax crime and finished a yearlong prison term last July for signing a tax return that didn't include illegal income from business deals unrelated to the partnerships.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in January 2004 at her urging, more than a year after he was originally indicted on charges of orchestrating schemes to manipulate Enron's books and enrich himself on the side. His plea was contingent upon the government striking a deal for his wife, who was initially indicted in May 2003.

He said Tuesday he misled his wife, and told her the kickbacks - a series of checks written to her, him and their two young sons - were gifts. She endorsed and deposited those checks. Fastow stared at the floor as the checks, with his wife and sons' names, were displayed for jurors Tuesday on a massive screen.

'I did this,' he said, tearful and fighting to compose himself. 'I led her to believe that.'

The partnerships that he said Skilling approved - LJM1 and LJM2 - were named with initials of his wife and sons, Jeffrey and Matthew, though Fastow didn't share that detail with jurors.

Fastow, who agreed as part of his plea deal to serve 10 years in prison, is a key pillar of the government's quest to"