Thursday, May 25, 2006

Enron Trial Results: guilty

From CBS Marketwatch:
HOUSTON (MarketWatch) - A jury of eight women and four men threw the book at former Enron founder and former Chief Executive Kenneth Lay Thursday, finding him guilty on all six counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The jury also found Lay's protégé, former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, guilty on 19 counts of fraud, but acquitted him on 9 counts of insider trading regarding shares he sold while the company unraveled.
The verdict is the culmination of a high-profile 108-day trial that took Enron's top executives to task for what federal prosecutors said was a deliberate effort to hide the company's foundering finances from investors.
From the Houston Chronicle:

A federal jury convicted former Enron chiefs Ken Lay on all counts and Jeff Skilling on most counts today, marking the climax of one of the most notorious corporate scandals in U.S. history and nearly ensuring prison time for two of Houston's best-known executives.

The jury heard 16 weeks of testimony and arguments and made its announcement early on its sixth day of deliberations. The eight-woman, four-man panel found Lay guilty of all six counts. They convicted Skilling on 19 of the 28 counts against him.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake set a sentencing date of Sept. 11.

BTW the Chronicle has probably the most complete coverage of all things Enron.

No comments: