Ken Lay (Enron) essay

KEN LAY (ENRON) 4

Author’s Name

Following theclosing down of operations of Enron in December 2, 2001, the courtcharged the company executives Kenneth Lee Lay and Jeffery Skilling,with conspiracy to defraud their clients. In particular, the courtfound Ken Lay guilty of conspiracy to commit securities and wirefraud. In total, he was found guilty of the six charges broughtagainst him. On the other hand, Skilling was convicted on 16 counts(Sterling,2002).&nbsp

The courtcase generated an enormous amount of publicity in the United Statesand countries across the globe. One of the outcomes of their courtcase is that the government spearheaded the reforms on security andmoney markets of both public and private companies, which tradedsecurities. Another outcome of the case is that it did not provideappropriate justice hence destroying the countries trust in thejudicial system. Notably, the scandal destroyed the lives of millionsof investors owing to the loss of their pensions, which amounted toapproximately 60 billion dollars.

Lay wasindicted with 11 counts of both security and wire fraud by a grandJury in the state of Texas. In 2006, Lay passed away when on vacationin Colorado. As such, his conviction was vacated and to date Layslegal record state that he was as not tried and convicted. Thevictims of the scandal did not get a fair trial given that Lay wasnever convicted for his breach of the law. However, Skilling received24 a conviction of 24 years in jail but in 2011, his sentence wasreduced by 10 years by a court order. Hence, his original sentence of24 years in jail was overturned and he is eligible for release in2017 (Sterling,2002).&nbsp

Ideally, bothLay and Skilling played an active role in misleading their investorsand taking part in fraudulent activities. Hence, they were primarilyresponsible for their crime. The notion that others misled them isnot true given that they had extensive knowledge of all theoperations and functions of the company (Sterling,2002).&nbsp

Reference

Sterling, T.F. (2002).&nbspTheEnron scandal.New York: Nova Science Pub.