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Thursday, July 06, 2006

OK, now I'm putting on the tinfoil
Posted by Jill | 7:30 AM
Hmmmm.....maybe Ken Lay didn't die of a heart attack; maybe he committed suicide to spare his family financial ruin. Or maybe he fled to Argentina.

Because this is AWFULLY convenient:

In yet another bizarre twist to the Enron saga, the sudden death of Kenneth L. Lay on Wednesday may have spared his survivors financial ruin. Mr. Lay's death effectively voids the guilty verdict against him, temporarily thwarting the federal government's efforts to seize his remaining real estate and financial assets, legal experts say.

"The death of Mr. Lay in all likelihood will render the government's hard-fought victory null," said Christopher Bebel, a former federal prosecutor based here who specializes in securities fraud.

But while the death of Mr. Lay may have limited government efforts in his criminal case, he remains the subject of civil lawsuits by the Securities and Exchange Commission and former investors and Enron employees. Those lawsuits could still proceed, with the aim of taking control of some of Mr. Lay's remaining assets.

[snip]

The government's forfeiture effort ahead of the planned sentencing of Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling this fall, however, has been thrown into doubt, at least in relation to Mr. Lay's assets since the death of a criminal defendant before his sentencing and the appeal process may void the criminal case against him.

"Technically, he was found guilty, but that's extinguished as of today," said Joel M. Androphy, a prominent defense lawyer in Houston.

A person involved in the government's action against Mr. Lay, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said that Mr. Lay's death did not necessarily rule out proceeding with forfeiture actions, explaining, "The family at the end of the day cannot sit on the fruits of the fraud." But, this person said: "Even if the verdict is nullified, he paid for his actions with his life. That is more tragic."

The civil lawsuits against Mr. Lay may continue with efforts to seize his remaining assets, but even those moves may be complicated by his death since technically there was no conviction of Mr. Lay in the criminal case to rely upon as proof.
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