Houston (Texas): A videotape showed at the Arthur Andersen criminal trial on May 20 showed a partner telling employees it "would be great" to destroy documents before any legal action is filed to make them "irretrievable".

The tape played at the obstruction of justice trial showed Michael Odom, risk manager for the accounting firm's Houston office, speaking to a training session for Andersen accountants on October 10, weeks before a full government probe began in the Enron affair.

Odom told the session that destruction of documents is "a housekeeping issue that we don't do well".

He added, "There is no need for anyone to retain anything once the audit is completed. Once litigation has been filed, we are not permitted to destroy anything. If it is destroyed in the course of normal policy, then litigation is filed the next day, that's great. It's destroyed, it's gone, it is irretrievable."

The evidence could help prosecutors show that Andersen was destroying Enron documents in anticipation of a subpoena from US authorities investigating irregular accounting before Enron's collapse last year.

Although Andersen has argued it was carrying out its normal policy of document destruction, prosecutors allege that Andersen, already on probation for misdeeds in the audits of Waste Management and Sunbeam, was trying to hide its role in Enron's questionable accounting practices for fear of being barred from further audit work.

Also, a hand written note from in-house Andersen lawyer Nancy Temple presented in the trial showed that she termed the Enron account "highly problematic", and had the potential to put the audit firm in more hot water with regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Temple's notes from her desk calendar, described by FBI agent Barbara Sullivan, said, "We could be facing a charge of violating the cease and desist order in the Waste Management case and violating the SEC injunction."

Sullivan also described an October 12 e-mail from Temple to Odom in which she wrote, "It might be useful to remind our (Enron) engagement team of our document retention policy." Temple has not appeared in court, and prosecutors have informed US District Judge Melinda Harmon that Temple would invoke her Fifth Amendment Constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Sullivan also went through a number of other internal Andersen documents from last year, including one offering employees overtime pay to shred documents from Enron.

Andersen, which has lost some 300 clients since it was indicted by the Justice Department on one charge of obstruction of justice on March 14, could be fined $ 500,000 and put on probation for five years if convicted in the case.

The Chicago-based firm asked for a speedy trial to clear its name, but its worldwide network has been splintered with its US offices facing massive liabilities from the Enron case and other legal actions.