Poor Little Criminal Spearheads

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Frank Quattrone, the top investment banker accused of wrongdoing after the collapse of the technology bubble, won't face prosecution and can return to work in the securities industry.

A judge in New York today approved an agreement under which federal prosecutors will drop obstruction-of-justice charges against Quattrone if he doesn't break the law for a year. Quattrone, 50, won't serve jail time or pay a fine and didn't agree to any restrictions on his work. He admitted no wrongdoing.

Frankie may receive 100 million in compensation, as "long as he abides by an agreement and does not break the law for a year."

Jeffrey Skilling still roams free. Bernie Ebbers free and filing appeals. Michael Milken lives happily ever after.

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Kinder Morgan Inc. accepted the largest pipeline takeover in history after a group led by Richard Kinder, the former Enron Corp. executive who helped found the company, raised its offer to $15 billion.

Kinder and partners including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., insurer American International Group Inc., Carlyle Group and Riverstone Holdings LLC raised their bid to $107.50 a share from a May offer of $100 a share, Houston-based Kinder Morgan said today in a statement. The buyers also will assume $7 billion in debt, bringing the transaction's total value to $22 billion.

The company's shares have climbed 20 percent since the offer on May 29, representing a gain of $415 million for Kinder, who owned an 18 percent stake in Kinder Morgan as of a June filing. Kinder, 61, will remain chairman and chief executive and will reinvest all his shares, according to the statement.

The offer accepted by Kinder Morgan values Kinder's stake at $2.58 billion. Co-founder Bill Morgan, his son Mike Morgan, and director Fayez Sarofim are also among the Kinder Morgan investors.

Kinder Morgan was formed in July 1999, when Kinder and his partners bought KN Energy, a Colorado-based pipeline company. Kinder and Bill Morgan, also a former Enron executive and a University of Missouri classmate, created the company that would become Kinder Morgan by buying Enron's stake in gas-liquids and carbon-dioxide pipelines as Enron expanded in energy trading.

Enron collapsed in December 2001 under crushing debt and allegations of fraud. Lay and his successor as Enron's CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted in May of spearheading the fraud that led to Enron's failure. Lay, who was scheduled to be sentenced in October, died last month.

And they say crime doesn't pay.