Enron's Lay, lawyer shrug off movie portrayal
Reuters, 01.09.03, 6:56 PM ET
By C. Bryson Hull
HOUSTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The lawyer for former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay, who had warned the CBS television network not to portray his client as "cunning, unfeeling and greedy" in its movie about the energy giant's collapse, on Thursday shrugged off the film.
Having seen the movie, "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron," Mike Ramsey, Lay's chief criminal defense attorney, Ramsey said legal action against CBS or producers of the program was far from likely.
"The production values were so bad on the thing that it's largely meaningless," said Ramsey, part of whose job is to worry about the impression potential jurors may have of his client. "I don't think anyone is going to pay attention to that."
The movie, loosely based on the book "Anatomy of Greed" by rookie Enron <ENRNQ.PK> worker Brian Cruver, premiered on Sunday on CBS, a Viacom Inc. subsidiary (nyse: VIAb - news - people), to mixed reviews. Actor Mike Farrell, who rose to fame as B.J. Honeycutt in the TV show "M*A*S*H" portrayed Lay.
Former Chief Executive Jeff Skilling and former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow were also portayed by actors in the film. A lawyer for Skilling did not return a call seeking comment, and a Fastow spokesman declined comment. The Fastow character did not have a speaking part.
On the non-fiction front, Ramsey said the federal criminal inquiry into Lay's alleged insider stock sales is proceeding apace.
Ramsey, who has met with prosecutors a few times, said he has not talked with them since late last year and believes that the investigation still is focused on Lay's stock sales.
"We know that there is grand jury activity and we know they are combing with a fine-toothed comb and that's what we have asked them to do," Ramsey told Reuters. "They are obviously working hard."
Lay and Ramsey have long held the position that stock sales the former Enron chief undertook in 2001 were to pay off loans to the company. Critics have said those sales were evidence Lay knew something was amiss, even as he touted Enron's low share price to employees as a great buying opportunity.
Lay, who resigned at the Enron board's request nearly a year ago, is withstanding the strain of his legal problems well, Ramsey said.
"He is a guy who wants to look at the bright side of things, no matter what the circumstances are. He is seeing all the same friends, is going to all the same parties and and all the same places as he did before," Ramsey said.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service |
