‘Lay ignored email warnings’
Prosecutor accuses Lay of ignoring warning signs
Enron founder Ken Lay’s apparent inability to take note of staff concerns
about the company’s finances has been the focus of the prosecution’s attack in
the long-running fraud trial.
In his second week of testimony, prosecutors produced staff emails, which
questioned the company’s accounting policies.
In one of the emails produced in court by chief prosecutor John Hueston, an
employee says: ‘I’ve lost all respect for Enron senior management.’
Lay has insisted that staff kept him out of the loop and said he did not
question former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow – now jailed- at the time
about newspaper reports into unusual business practices at the firm because he
was ‘getting information from all sides’.
Lay faces six charges of conspiracy, and wire and securities fraud and has
been charged along with former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, who
is facing 28 charges of conspiracy and fraud.
Both deny all charges.