Enron whistleblower elaborates.

Sherron Watkins, the whistleblower who exposed Enron's accounting practices, enthralled a large crowd in February 2003 at the Women in Leadership Forum in St. Paul sponsored by the College of St. Catherine MN.

With her plain talk and soft southern drawl, Watkins, one of Time Magazine's 2002 Persons of the year, related tales of corporate deceit and fallout, and her role in exposing accounting irregularities. Honoring her with a medal, college officials said: "As corporate scandals shake our economy, Watkins exemplifies a commitment to lead with uncompromising honesty and integrity."

As Enron's VP for corporate relations, Watkins exposed major accounting irregularities months before Enron's collapse. She was the only employee courageous enough to send memos to Kenneth Lay, then Enron CEO, regarding these known irregularities.

In her two memos, a short one sent anonymously followed by a longer version she signed, Watkins laid out her concerns--thus establishing a "paper trail" for the major investigations that followed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by the U.S. Congress. "Warning signs were not heeded, "she said. "Pretty soon we had a snowball gathering size and speed and totally out of control."

In her down-to-earth manner, Watkins spoke of the tremendous pressure within the investment banking business, including 4th quarter corporate manipulations and various problems related to disclosure rules.

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