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The Kenny Lay is Going Down Thread
Ken Lay Speaks In Own Defense Ahead Of Trial
Greg Levine, 12.13.05, 4:28 PM ET
NEW YORK - Remember Kenneth Lay?
It doesn't take an early-21st-century trivia buff to summon up the name: He's the former chief executive of Enron (otc: ECSPQ - news - people ), that apex of the unholy corporate trinity that included Tyco International (nyse: TYC - news - people ) and WorldCom (reborn as MCI (nasdaq: MCIP - news - people )).
Enron, that buff will tell you, course filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after its use of off-balance sheet accounts to camouflage tens of billions of dollars in debt was revealed. The utter collapse of the firm wiped out life savings and jobs for thousands of people, sparked the creation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002--and led to indictments of the firm's C-level management.
In July 2004, Lay was indicted on counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, bank fraud and other charges. This came after Enron's former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to several charges in January. The disgraced ex-CFO agreed to serve ten years in the slammer--and to be the government's key witness against Lay and his co-defendants. They include former top accountant Richard Causey and another ex-CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, who was charged with 35 counts of conspiracy, fraud, insider trading and lying about Enron's finances. Like Lay, they pleaded not guilty.
Lay spoke in his own defense Tuesday, but not on the witness stand: That's slated to start next month. For now, the ex-CEO addressed a lunchtime audience at the Houston Forum. He declared that Enron had been a fine organization that was besmirched by the iniquity of a few bad apples.
Published reports quote Lay as lamenting that, "We did trust Andy Fastow, and sadly, tragically, that trust turned out to be misplaced."
Lay, Skilling and Causey will get their day in court together--lots of days--starting Jan. 17.
Greg Levine, 12.13.05, 4:28 PM ET
NEW YORK - Remember Kenneth Lay?
It doesn't take an early-21st-century trivia buff to summon up the name: He's the former chief executive of Enron (otc: ECSPQ - news - people ), that apex of the unholy corporate trinity that included Tyco International (nyse: TYC - news - people ) and WorldCom (reborn as MCI (nasdaq: MCIP - news - people )).
Enron, that buff will tell you, course filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after its use of off-balance sheet accounts to camouflage tens of billions of dollars in debt was revealed. The utter collapse of the firm wiped out life savings and jobs for thousands of people, sparked the creation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002--and led to indictments of the firm's C-level management.
In July 2004, Lay was indicted on counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, bank fraud and other charges. This came after Enron's former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to several charges in January. The disgraced ex-CFO agreed to serve ten years in the slammer--and to be the government's key witness against Lay and his co-defendants. They include former top accountant Richard Causey and another ex-CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, who was charged with 35 counts of conspiracy, fraud, insider trading and lying about Enron's finances. Like Lay, they pleaded not guilty.
Lay spoke in his own defense Tuesday, but not on the witness stand: That's slated to start next month. For now, the ex-CEO addressed a lunchtime audience at the Houston Forum. He declared that Enron had been a fine organization that was besmirched by the iniquity of a few bad apples.
Published reports quote Lay as lamenting that, "We did trust Andy Fastow, and sadly, tragically, that trust turned out to be misplaced."
Lay, Skilling and Causey will get their day in court together--lots of days--starting Jan. 17.
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