Two years after the fall, here come the Enron trials

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Dec. 25, 2003

Two years after the fall, here come the Enron trials
KRISTEN HAYS
Associated Press

HOUSTON - First came Enron Corp.'s scandalous collapse. Then came the crackdowns. Here come the trials.

The Enron saga has brought the infamous and the unknown to court in handcuffs as the Justice Department continues a multilayered probe into the what brought down the Houston-based company that once reveled in its own purported success.

The two biggest fish, former chairman Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, had not been charged as the investigation passed the two-year mark. Both maintain their innocence of wrongdoing in the implosion that left thousands jobless, stunned investors and spawned dozens of lawsuits.

But barring last-minute guilty pleas or lengthy postponements, 16 defendants, including former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, are scheduled for trial in 2004. The five jury trials are likely to mix intense drama with complicated testimony.

"As much activity as there has been so far, it's really just a warm-up act to what we can expect in the coming year," said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor who handles white-collar crime cases as an attorney in private practice.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7570771.htm

[bluestateguy]

1. I support the death penalty for Ken Lay!

For economic terrorism! Pack his fat ass off to Guantanamo and subject him to a military tribunal. I have always believed that many more people on the Left, not everyone, but many more, would support capital punishment if there was a very real chance of conservative white male, white collar criminals being executed.

[gristy]

2. Nah, life in prison for Lay.

With no chance of parole. I do not support capital punishment.

[maveric]

7. In a "real" prison. Not a Club Med facility.

Where he can be some bad man's girlfriend.

[bvar22]

9. Kenny Boy deserves to be tried in Houston...

...by a jury composed of people who lost their life savings to the Republican Enron Fraud.

I'm sure that by now, kenny boy has had sufficient time to safely hide away most of his stolen loot. He'll claim to be broke, and heartbroken that all those people who trusted him lost their life savings.....but what can he do since he doesn't have ANY money.

I'll NEVER FORGET Niel bush* and the Republican Silverado scam (the prototype for Enron et al). He was being interviewed by a TV station shortly after the scam. He claimed that he was wiped out...that he had lost all his money when Silverado collapsed. He was standing in front of a $multi-million mansion with a driveway full of BMWs and Mercedes. When the reporter questioned him about the house and cars, he calmly replied...."Oh, those are not MINE. They belong to my wife!

I support asset seizure and total restitution for white collar crime. I go crazy when our judicial system fines a white collar criminal $10,000 for stealing a $Million.

[SharonAnn]

16. Lay has put millions into investments that can't be touched

such as:
1. Life insurance annuities for himself and for his wife. They each have one that pays $750,000 a year.
2. Home in Texas that cannot be taken
3. I believe also an executive retirement plan tht was invested outside of Enron that also cannot be taken.

[SahaleArm]

18. Depends on the charges - Anything related to Enron, Inc. can be seized

Any money found to be embezzled into his personal finances, SEC violations contributing to personal finances, and if he's charged with income tax violation, the rest is fair game. Remains to be seen if he gets charged at all considering he's a buddy of Bush.

[jobycom]

3. Wouldn't you hate to be Ken lay if Bush is losing ground in 2004?

If Dean keeps hammering at Enron, Bush will hang Lay out to dry to get a few votes.

[deminflorida]

15. Before, Dean hammers Bush on Enron he needs to open his

sealed records first, let us know if he's going to be the object of an ENRON investigion as well.

[lucky777]

4. Way too slow . . .

I'm a law professor; last year I was a visiting prof at a law school on the West Coast that hired a guy on the Enron task force to come to the school to teach criminal law. The school thought it was a big coup to hire this guy because after all, he was involved in the biggest corporate criminal investigation in history. He said he would start teaching when the task force had done its preliminary work. That was almost three fucking years ago. Since then -- not a single conviction of a big fish.

This is a joke. The DC snipers were tried and convicted and sentenced -- yet the Enron trials haven't even begun. It's bullshit, a double standard. Nothing will change until we equalize punishment for the rich and poor.

If they were black, they'd be in jail doing time. But they are rich white men -- they'll get a slap on the wrist like the HealthSouth execs who walked away with tiny sentences after stealing hundreds of millions.

It's bullshit.

[tedzbear]

5. But their excuse is that this type of case is very complicated...

...and hard to prove guilt. Is that bs too?

[BootinUp]

6. So spell it out for us

Not as familiar with the profession. Is it a problem with the judges? What do you think can be done about these delays?

[young_at_heart]

8. Look how fast they went after Martha Stewart

She's a female Democrat......no time wasted there and the magnitude of Enron compared to her dinky situation is beyond discussion!

[Blaze Diem]

12. Yep, White Collar Repub Criminals..ala Rush Lamebag

Jeb will pardon, or invoke a "special privilege, make a new law for the republican criminal..and as for ENRON, brother George will do the same in theend. I'd like to see ENRON and the Bush presidency both go down in 2004, but that would be a continuation of the "I have a Dream" speech..all created equal..

[Aidoneus]

10. will there be any firing squads involved?

[lucky777]

11. It's Not that Complicated

I personally don't think that the underlying fraud is very complicated, but the legal and financial machinations are hard to explain. I think you solve this by bringing the case fast and hard and forcing them to take the stand and ask them to explain the byzantine structure of their deals, then let the chips fall where they may. I think it is a mistake to try to master their complex schemes before bringing the case -- just ask them to look at the jury and explain why they set up 900 subsidiaries in the carribean, why they set up off balance sheet deals with investment banks, why they cashed out while telling others to invest, etc.

The big problem is the circle jerk of blaming each other -- the executives blame the lawyers who blame the accountants who blame the board of directors, etc etc No one will accept blame. You have to put them all in the same room at the same time and say, "Look, someone here is to blame, now you can attack each other if you want, but someone will take the fall."

[joanski01]

13. Thanks, lucky

for you insight into this case. I come on DU to learn everything I can. Please keep informing us (me).

[Tuttle]

14. You know, I don't feel any safer with Saddam in custody...

however, if they could lockup a few of Bush's major campaign contributors, that would definitely make plenty of people here in America feel a whole lot safer.

Kenny Boy and the anthrax killer (I live in Oxford, CT where Otilie Lundren died due to inhalation) - this would make me feel safer!!!

Tut-tut

[shamanstar]

17. good thing CA will drop the lawsuit

now that ahnold is in office.
kiss the 9 billion goodbye.
ahnold is such a good guy.