Now, Enron chief executive's wife demands severance pay

The wife of former Enron chief executive, Jeffery Skilling, is demanding $875,000 (£570,000) in severance pay from the collapsed energy giant.

Rebecca Carter, a former corporate secretary at Enron who married Mr Skilling in March, is one of 46 ex-employees who are demanding millions in pay-offs from the group. The 46 have refused to accept a deal offered by Enron to employees laid off after Enron filed for bankruptcy in December, which would give them $13,500 each. They have applied to bankruptcy judge Arthur Gonzales for a total of $25m in payments. Enron has already paid $32m to employees laid off since December.

Enron was known for its lavish remuneration – its top 144 executives were paid an astonishing $744m in its final year of operation, an average of more than $5m each.

The largest severance demand has come from Mark Frevert, who was vice-chairman of Enron. He is claiming $6.6m which he says he is owed. Records show Mr Frevert received $17.3m from Enron in the year before it collapsed. John Sherriff, the London-based head of Enron Europe, is demanding $1.6m in pay-offs. He received $4.3m last year.

Ms Carter, an accountant who once worked for Enron's auditors Arthur Andersen, earned $477,500 in the year before Enron's collapse. She met Mr Skilling when they both worked for Enron and married shortly after its demise.

Mr Skilling, one of the architects of Enron's rapid rise and fall, resigned last year having just picked up a $5.6m bonus and having sold shares worth $13m.