Lay: I thought Enron finances were healthy

Testifying on his second day on the witness stand, Ken Lay, the founder of
Enron, reiterated claims that he thought Enron’s finances were healthy right up
until the company collapsed in a massive accounting scandal.

Lay, who faces multiple fraud charges in relation to the collapse of the
company, blames former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow – now jailed – for
Enron’s demise.

Government prosecutors have accused Lay of hiding the losses and lying to
boost the company’s share price.

In his testimony, Lay claimed senior executives thought they were a victim of
a ‘witch hunt’ when questions began emerging in the media about Enron:

‘We thought in fact that the Wall Street Journal was on a witch-hunt. We
didn’t have any information that Mr Fastow had done anything inappropriate,’ Lay
said.

Both Lay and fellow accused, Jeff Skilling deny any wrongdoing.