HOUSTON, July 8: Former Enron chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lay surrendered to federal agents on Thursday after being indicted on criminal charges of fraud and making false statements while the energy powerhouse collapsed into bankruptcy.

In a 65-page federal grand jury indictment unsealed by the US Justice Department on Thursday, Lay was charged with 11 criminal counts, including securities and bank fraud. Lay, a friend to President George W. Bush - who called him "Kenny Boy", has steadfastly denied all wrongdoing. He appeared calm and relaxed as he entered FBI offices in Houston.

"You guys are up early," the 62-year-old Lay said as he strode past a pack of about 50 reporters and news cameras gathered in front of the FBI offices. "Nice of you all to show up this morning."

After about 20 minutes inside the FBI offices, where he was fingerprinted and processed, Lay emerged in handcuffs and was taken to a federal court house. The 11 counts against Lay were added to an earlier indictment against Jeff Skilling, who was Lay's hand-picked successor as CEO, and former chief accounting officer Rick Causey, indicating that they would be tried together.

Lay's attorney, Mike Ramsey, said he would seek a speedy trial for his client and may try to separate his case from those of Skilling and Causey. Ramsey said Lay had been duped by his Enron underlings.

"He (Lay) didn't have any idea of the depth of the problem until after they filed for bankruptcy," Ramsey said. "At a company as big as Enron, you have to trust someone."

Houston-based Enron was the nation's seventh-largest publicly owned company by revenue before it spiralled into a then-record bankruptcy in the final months of 2001. Disclosures that the company hid billions of dollars in debt and burnished its financial statements through the use of complicated, off-the-books transactions ultimately prompted its swift failure.

As has been the pattern with most of the 21 other ex-Enron employees charged with crimes, the US Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil charges against Lay. The SEC, which said Lay made unlawful proceeds of over $90 million in 2001, charged him with fraud and insider trading.

Lay, as head of Houston Natural Gas, had executed a 1985 merger that formed the national pipelines giant that became Enron. He was Enron's chief executive for most of the company's history, ceding those duties to Skilling in February 2001 until Skilling abruptly quit in August 2001. Lay stepped back in as CEO until he was forced out in disgrace in January 2002. -Reuters