Arson Suspected at Energy Exec’s House

HOUSTON — A blaze that did slight damage to a mansion once owned by former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow was set, fire investigators said Monday.

The three-story house -- recently sold to another energy company executive for $3.9 million -- caught fire early Sunday, but damage was limited to the front door and the area immediately around it.

“Right now, we have no idea why this fire was started,” Houston Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans said. “No suspect has been arrested, and the case is under investigation.”

Federal prosecutors accuse Fastow of building the home with laundered money. Enron collapsed in bankruptcy a year ago after revelations about years of inflated profit and hidden debt.

The home was sold in October to Thomas Hook, CFO of Hilcorp Energy, and his wife, Laura.

Hook did not return a telephone message left Sunday by the Associated Press.

About $300,000 of work remained on the house when the couple purchased it, and it was not immediately clear whether they had moved into the home.

The house is one of five properties included as equity for a bond that let Fastow go free after he was charged with fraud in early October. Prosecutors also froze $14 million in Fastow family bank accounts. He has pleaded not guilty.