Ken Lay Frog-Marched Into Halls Of Justice

Enron ex-chairman Kenneth Lay has pleaded "not guilty" to 11 criminal charges over the collapse of the former US energy giant.

The charges against longtime Bush Family friend  "Kenny Boy" include bank fraud, share trading fraud and making false statements. "Kenny Boy" is dubya's pet name for Ken Lay, who is 4 years his senior.  Apparently Kenny is dubya's "boy" in a different sense of the word.

Prosecutors led Lay to court in handcuffs after he kept an agreement to turn himself in to the FBI in Houston.

If convicted of all counts, Mr Lay could face up to 175 years in jail and fines totalling $5.75m (£3.10m).

Bail was set at $500,000 by US magistrate Judge Mary Milloy, rejecting a request from prosecutors to post bail at $6m on the contention that  Lay is a flight risk.

'Devastating harm'

In a separate action, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged  Lay with securities fraud and insider trading, seeking to recover $90 million in unlawful proceeds from stock sales.

"Kenneth Lay is charged with abusing his powerful position....and repeatedly lying in an effort to cover up the financial collapse that caused devastating harm to millions of Americans," said US Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray during a press briefing at the Justice Department.

Kenneth Lay and other senior Enron officials "engaged in a wide-ranging scheme to deceive the investing public," the government charged.

If you have any questions about the impact of Lay's, Skillings' , and Fastow's  shennanigans on the company, please feel free to take a drive to Houston and ask any former Enron employee who lost their job and fortunes to these common thieves.

Enron and its executives were the largest single campaign contributer to dubya's 2000 campaign, giving over half a million dollars.