NewsMine — cabal-elite — corporate — enron — Viewing Item

Lay and skilling convicted securities fraud Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/25/D8HQTPL80.html http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/25/D8HQTPL80.html Lay, Skilling Convicted in Enron Collapse May 25 12:34 PM US/Eastern By KRISTEN HAYS AP Business Writer HOUSTON Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history. The verdict put the blame for the demise of what was once the nation's seventh-largest company squarely on its top two executives. It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a trial that lasted nearly four months. Lay was also convicted of bank fraud and making false statements to banks in a separate trial related to his personal banking. Lay was convicted on all six counts against him in the trial with Skilling. Skilling was convicted on 19 of the 28 counts against him, including one count of insider trading, and acquitted on the remaining nine. "You have reflected on this evidence for the last few days and reached a very thorough verdict, and I thank you," U.S. District Judge Sim Lake told jurors. He set sentencing for Sept. 11. Lake set a $5 million bond for Lay and ordered him to surrender his passport before he leaves the courthouse. The judge said the bond already in place for Skilling was sufficient. The judge said he did not believe home confinement was necessary for either. The former corporate titans are now felons facing years in prison after being convicted of running an elaborate fraud that gave the company a glamorous illusion of success. Jurors declared through their verdict that both men repeatedly lied to cover a vast web of unsustainable accounting tricks and failing ventures that shoved Enron into bankruptcy protection in December 2001. The conviction was a major win for the government, serving almost as a bookend in an era that has seen prosecutors win convictions against executives from WorldCom Inc. to Adelphia Communications Corp. and homemaking maven Martha Stewart. The panel rejected Skilling's insistence that no fraud occurred at Enron other than a few executives skimming millions from secret scams behind his and Lay's backs, and a lethal combination of bad press and poor market confidence sank the company. Both men testified in their own defense. Skilling is expected to appeal. The government's victory caps a 4 1/2 year investigation that nabbed 16 guilty pleas from ex-Enron executives, including former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey. All are awaiting sentencing later this year except for two who either finished or are serving prison terms. Many deemed the outcome of the Lay-Skilling case a final exam of sorts of the federal government's ability to prove complicated corporate skullduggery. Enron's implosion and the subsequent scandals vexed Wall Street, sent skittish investors fleeing, increased regulatory scrutiny over publicly traded companies and prompted Congress to stiffen white collar penalties. Former WorldCom head Bernard Ebbers awaits a 25-year prison term for orchestrating the $11 billion accounting fraud that bankrupted the company. Stewart did five months in prison and more time confined to work and home for lying about a stock sale. Adelphia Communications Inc. founder John Rigas and his son got double-digit prison terms for looting their company. HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy bucked the trend with his acquittal last year of fraud charges despite five former finance chiefs pointing the finger at him in a $2.7 billion scheme to inflate earnings. He dropped in on the Lay-Skilling case during Fastow's lengthy testimony in March, saying the ex-CFO couldn't be believed. But those cases were much simpler than that against Lay and Skilling. The government's vast investigation seemed to stall until Fastow pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two counts of conspiracy and paved the way for prosecutors to secure indictments against his bosses. Fastow also led investigators to Causey, who was bound for trial alongside Lay and Skilling until he broke ranks with their unified defense and pleaded guilty to securities fraud just weeks before the trial began. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

Anderson convicted { June 15 2002 } Bankers charged in enrol scandal { September 18 2003 } Banks enron deals Banks hide loans { July 24 2002 } Bush signs bill to keep california power flowing Chase financied enron borrowed gold Cheney energy { January 27 2002 } Citigroup enron Citigroup skirt rules { July 23 2002 } Clinton ties Enron accounting chief pleads not guilty { January 22 2004 } Enron auditor crime { May 14 2002 } Enron baxter dead { January 26 2002 } Enron california prices { May 7 2002 } Enron california wp { May 7 2002 } Enron ceo ken lay to face criminal charges { July 7 2004 } Enron citi Enron employees discussing state of economy { June 8 2004 } Enron employees joke about stealing from grandma { June 2 2004 } Enron employees praise bush and ken lay { June 1 2004 } Enron fake floor { February 22 2002 } Enron frank wisner cia { October 28 1997 } Enron funds restitution impossible after lays death { October 18 2006 } Enron gouged customers over billion dollars Enron lies Enron linked securities sparked citibank lawsuit Enron must pat california one and half billion { July 16 2005 } Enron policy Enron southamerc { May 6 2002 } Enron taxes Enron timeline { July 8 2004 } Enron traders gloated over rigging market Enron traders joked about theft Enron witness says he plundered reserves Enrons skilling ex ceo surrenders to fbi Ex enron execs arrested { May 2 2003 } Execs arrested { August 1 2002 } Fastow 78 counts Fastow and wife plea bargain Fastow charged { October 3 2002 } First criminal trial involving enron executives Former enron official changes plea to guilty Goa whitehouse Investigate bankers { June 26 2002 } Judge approves lea fastow enron plea deal { January 8 2004 } Ken lay hooks bush with uzbekistan [jpg] Ken lay likely to walk { July 9 2004 } Ken lay major 2000 bush fundraiser { June 26 2004 } Ken lay suddenly dies of heart attack { July 5 2006 } Ken lay victim of wave of terror by prosecutors Kennedy lay and skilling going to trial Kennedy lay surrenders to FBI Lawsuit cheney Lay and skilling convicted securities fraud Lay gone Lay no direct wrongdoings { November 25 2003 } Lieberman enron Merrill reaches deal with enron affair { September 18 2003 } No indication that ken lay suffered bad health { July 5 2006 } Plead guilty { August 21 2002 } Prosecutors seek ken lay indictment { June 20 2004 } Sec wants documents from ken lay { September 29 2003 } Senate deadlline enron Senator tax report disturbing { February 12 2003 } Skilling accusing people being fbi agents Whitehouse enron { May 23 2002 } Whitehouse papers enron Whitehouse subpoenaed { May 22 2002 } Witness says execs heavily involved in enron Files Listed: 69

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.