Kenny Who...............???????????
Sources: Lay Indicted in Enron's Collapse
By KRISTEN HAYS, AP Business Writer
HOUSTON - Former Enron Corp. chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay has been indicted on criminal charges related to the energy company's collapse, sources close to the case told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Lay, the company's founder, was expected to surrender to federal authorities Thursday, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Two sources said the indictment against Lay, 62, was expected to be unsealed upon or shortly after his surrender to the FBI (news - web sites).
Prosecutors from the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s Enron Task Force presented an indictment to U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy in Houston on Wednesday. At their request, the judge sealed both the indictment and an arrest warrant.
A hearing before Milloy was scheduled for late Thursday morning.
Lay has consistently maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing.
Enron, once No. 7 on the Fortune 500, had more than 20,000 employees worldwide before the company imploded nearly three years ago amid revelations of hidden debt, inflated profits and accounting tricks.
The charges against Lay come 2 1/2 years after the federal government launched its painstaking investigation.
The indictment takes the task force to the top of the fallen company's former senior management. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and former top accountant Richard Causey are awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading. Both pleaded innocent and are free on bond.
And waiting to testify for the prosecution is former finance chief Andrew Fastow, who pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts in January. Fastow admitted to engineering partnerships and financial schemes to hide Enron debt and inflate profits while pocketing millions for himself. |
