Results tagged “ceoskilling”

In what legal analysts are calling a "slam dunk" for the prosecution, the jury in the trial of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling found the former Enron executives guilty of charges relating to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy this morning after just more than five days of deliberation.

All the reporters who came to town this week to watch Jeff Skilling testify in the Enron trial will have to wait: Skilling's testimony has been pushed back to at least Monday because of longer-than-expected testimony from former Enron General Counsel Jim Derrick. On Thursday, Derrick discussed ex-CEO Skilling and ex-Chairman Ken Lay's role in the company's operations, saying Skilling and Lay signed off on fudged annual and quarterly reports based on lawyers' and accountants'...

Defense lawyers began trying to chip away at the prosecution's story Monday, the first day of the defense's case in the trial of former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. The main testimony came from Joannie Williamson, a former assistant to ex-Enron Chairman Lay, ex-CEO Skilling and ex-head of investor relations Mark Koenig, who was on the witness stand for more than eight days for the prosecution. Williamson said yesterday that Koenig perjured himself when he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting securities fraud in August 2004.

Nine weeks in, and here we are in what may be the last days of the prosecution's case in the trial of ex-Enron execs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Hang in there: It's almost time for everyone to go to the lobby to get popcorn and a Coke. But first, just a bit more testimony to go.

Defense lawyers chipped away at former Enron Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr.'s testimony in the Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling trial yesterday, accusing him of exaggerating his stories so that he could have an easier time in prison. Glisan is serving a five-year sentence for securities fraud and wire fraud; he started in a low-security prison in Bastrop but was transferred to an unfenced prison camp near Beaumont after he cooperated with government prosecutors in an earlier Enron-related case.

Former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. took the stand in the Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling trial Tuesday, telling jurors that he helped make Enron look like it wasn't having serious financial problems — and that his former bosses not only knew about the trouble, but lied to the public about it.

Three witnesses testified yesterday in the trial of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling: one who criticized ex-Enron CFO Andrew Fastow's side deals, one who helped create them and one who had no idea who Fastow was. The one who criticized was Vince Kaminski, a former risk analyst at Enron who testified that ex-Enron Chairman Lay and ex-CEO Skilling ignored his concerns about side deals run by Fastow. Kaminski said his first bad reaction to the...

Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow delivered more goods for the prosecution during his testimony Wednesday and didn't back down from his accusations against Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling despite a full assault from Skilling's lawyer Daniel Petrocelli. In his second day of testimony in the trial of ex-Chairman Lay and ex-CEO Skilling, Fastow told jurors that Lay knowingly misled reporters and employees about the company's health.

Much of Wednesday's episode of the Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling trial was taken up by a February 2001 webcast to Enron employees and tapes of two 2001 telephone calls, all made while the company was on its way to collapse. Local media picked up on the irony of the webcast, in which Lay and Skilling predicted Enron would be "the world's leading company" by 2006.

The second day of testimony in the Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling trial didn't go any better for ex-CEO Skilling than the first one did, as former investor relations head Mark Koenig continued his story of adjusted profits and inflated corporate health. Specifically, Koenig said company officials — including Skilling — didn't tell investors about $230 million in quarterly retail division losses during an April 2001 conference call, and in July 2001 he also neglected to mention Enron Energy Services' $726 million debt. Instead, he told investors things were "great" (granted, that's a relative term, but come on!).