Lay hoping for quick Enron trial
Ken Lay, Enron's former chairman and chief executive, has asked a US court to separate his case from co-defendants so he can proceed quickly to trial.
Link: Re-live the Enron story
Lay, who was charged last month on 11 counts ranging from conspiracy to fraud, has been eager for a speedy trial from the start, expected to be cleared of all charges.
Lay has strong ties to president George W. Bush, whom the president calls ‘Kenny Boy’.
Lay has been charged in an indictment that also named Jeff Skilling, Enron’s former chief executive, and Richard Causey, Enron’s former chief accounting officer, in the collapse of the company which shook the world in November 2001, the FT reported.
Prosecutors accuse Lay of taking over the conspiracy from Skilling, when Skilling abruptly resigned after just six months in the top job. Lay had led the company before that, yet he has not been charged for those years as chief executive.