Kenneth L Lay

The sideshow legal proceeding to the 3 1/2 -month Enron Corp. trial wound down Tuesday with company founder Kenneth L. Lay testifying that he had no intention to commit fraud when he violated provisions of a Depression-era banking law. Lay acknowledged his signature on forms explaining the law, known as Regulation U, but added, "I doubt I read in detail any of those loan documents." He portrayed himself as only vaguely familiar with the law.

A judge says the federal government can proceed with its attempt to seize nearly $13 million from the estate of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay. U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein rejected a request from Lay's widow to halt the government's bid for the money, which prosecutors claim were "proceeds of the fraud proven in the criminal case against Lay." Kenneth Lay had been convicted in May 2006 of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases.

Kenneth L. Lay, who built Enron Corp. into the world's largest energy trader, was at the center of a monumental criminal conspiracy to hide the company's deteriorating condition as it sped toward bankruptcy, government prosecutors said Thursday. The man who was Enron's chairman and chief executive for 15 years manipulated earnings, backdated documents, disguised debt, over-valued assets and lied to employees and securities analysts, the government charged in a 65-page indictment.

Federal prosecutors will not challenge a judge's ruling that vacates the conviction of Enron Corp.'s late founder, Kenneth L. Lay, for his role in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. Prosecutors on Monday withdrew their notice of appeal in the ruling last month by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who said Lay's death vacated his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges because Lay couldn't challenge the conviction. Prosecutors had filed a notice last week asking the U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge Monday to force former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay to turn over documents sought for an SEC investigation of the Houston energy company. The SEC said Lay was wrong to contend that surrendering the documents would violate his constitutional right against self-incrimination. The agency asked U.S.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth L. Lay will refuse to testify Tuesday when he appears before a congressional committee investigating the collapse of the energy trading giant, his spokeswoman said Sunday. ''Under the instruction of counsel, Mr. Lay will exercise his 5th Amendment right at the Tuesday hearing,'' Kelly Kimberly said, declining further comment. The amendment grants constitutional protection against self-incrimination.

Former Enron Chairman Kenneth L. Lay on Sunday abruptly canceled his much-anticipated appearance before Congress, contending he would not receive a fair hearing. Lay changed his mind about testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee today, after comments by congressional leaders on Sunday television news shows suggested that "judgments have been reached and the tenor of the hearing will be prosecutorial," said his attorney, Earl J. Silbert.

Congressional investigators prepared Monday to subpoena former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay to appear before their panels, while the Justice Department rejected calls for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the energy giant's collapse. At a hearing on Capitol Hill, the nation's top securities regulator confirmed his agency postponed a routine review of Enron's financial statements in 2000, in part because Enron appeared to be healthy.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay's family foundation -- which had 90% of its holdings in Enron stock -- cannot meet this year's pledges because its value plummeted from $52 million to $2.4 million last year. The Houston-based foundation has asked charities to let it honor the pledges in the future, Lay's spokeswoman Kelly Kimberly said.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay is seeking a meeting with federal prosecutors to discuss reports that he will be indicted within two weeks, his lawyer said. Michael Ramsey, head of Lay's legal team, reiterated his belief that the government had no case against his client.

Two senators hope to end the legal precedent that let Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay's fraud conviction be cleared from his record after he died. The development has hurt prosecutors' efforts to take $43.5 million in restitution from his estate. Working with the Justice Department, which asked for similar legislation shortly after Lay died in July, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.

A federal judge Tuesday wiped out the criminal conviction of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay, ruling that his July 5 death denied him the chance to appeal a Houston jury's fraud and conspiracy verdict. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who presided over the 16-week trial in spring, will make it tougher -- though by no means impossible -- for prosecutors and private plaintiffs who are trying to recover money from Lay's estate, legal experts said.

The estate of Kenneth L. Lay, who died after being convicted of heading a fraud that destroyed Enron Corp., agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims on behalf of participants in company pension plans, the Labor Department said. The proposed agreement must be submitted to a Houston court for approval, and final recovery will depend on the amount of assets available for distribution from Lay's estate, the government said.

The judge who presided over late Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay's two criminal trials has paved the way for his lawyers to legally clear his name. In a ruling issued last week and made public Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake approved a request to substitute the late company founder's estate for Lay himself in court proceedings so that the entity could act on his behalf.

Enron's founder Kenneth Lay had severely clogged arteries when he died in Colorado this month while awaiting sentencing for his role in the collapse of the energy company, according to an autopsy report. The autopsy showed that three of Lay's arteries were 90% blocked. The examination was performed by forensic pathologist Robert Kurtzman, who previously told reporters that Lay died of cardiovascular disease. Lay, who was 64, was facing decades in prison. He was due to be sentenced in October.

The death of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay early Wednesday raises the possibility that his conviction could be erased, complicating the federal government's effort to close the books on one of its most ambitious corporate fraud prosecutions. Lay, who at age 64 succumbed to a massive heart attack at a rented Colorado vacation home, was found guilty by a federal jury in May along with former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling of conspiracy and fraud.

The estate of Kenneth L. Lay, who died after being convicted of heading a fraud that destroyed Enron Corp., agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims on behalf of participants in company pension plans, the Labor Department said. The proposed agreement must be submitted to a Houston court for approval, and final recovery will depend on the amount of assets available for distribution from Lay's estate, the government said.

Federal prosecutors moved to put Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay on trial by this summer for bank fraud charges. In a court filing, prosecutors argued that it would be in the public interest for Lay to be tried soon on charges that he lied to banks about using loans to buy Enron stock on margin. A sweeping conspiracy and fraud case against Lay, former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling and former top accountant Richard A. Causey is scheduled for January.

The conviction of former Enron Corp. executives Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay will help former company employees, shareholders and other creditors reach settlements to recoup more of their losses, legal experts said Friday. But with so many groups seeking funds after the energy giant's collapse, actual payouts could be years away and probably will amount to pennies on the dollar, they said.

Kenneth L. Lay was in no hurry to update his Internet site Friday. The home page, with its red, white and blue piping and its formal portrait of the disgraced Enron Corp. founder, remained a digital time capsule of the moment when the verdict was still pending, when Lay could still spit defiance at the government's attacks on his character, when he could still write: "We firmly believe that the jury will see through this."