Lay to face charges over Enron
Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron, has been indicted in connection with the 2001 collapse of the former US energy giant.
Link: Former Enron CEO says: ‘Don’t blame me’
Lay, 62, due to appear before a Houston Court today, says he has done nothing wrong, and has labeled the indictment as ‘not justified’.
He has laid the blame for the spectacular collapse of Enron in 2001, which brought down the company’s auditors and former Big Five firm Andersen in its wake, at the feet of Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer, who has already been jailed.
According the BBC, the sealed indictments and will be disclosed later today and are expected to contain criminal charges relating to the fraud at Enron, and there may also be additional civil charges over Lay’s share dealings.
The case could have political ramifications as Lay is a close friend of president George W. Bush, who he affectionately refers to as ‘Kenny Boy’.