The former CEO and Chairman of Enron died in Aspen, CO. Lay was awaiting sentencing for his multiple-count convictions related to the company's collapse.
From the Wall Street Journal:
His lawyer, Michael Ramsey, said his death was due to natural causes.Other outlets are reporting the cause of death as a massive heart attack.
In May, Mr. Lay was found guilty in a Houston federal court of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. He was also found guilty of bank fraud and misrepresentation in personal loans in a separate trial. Mr. Lay faced a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison in the main trial and from zero to six months for each of the four separate bank charges. The sentencing was set for Oct. 23. Mr. Skilling has filed to have the verdict against him overturned.
The convictions of Mr. Lay and former President Jeffrey Skilling on a majority of the Enron conspiracy and fraud charges against them capped a long drive by the government to prosecute crimes associated with the Houston company's spectacular collapse into bankruptcy. The government moved quickly in the wake of the 2001 scandal to demonstrate to an angry public that a cop was on the beat, the guilty would be punished and the system purged of corruption.
Once viewed as one of the biggest business success stories of the 1990s, Enron collapsed in 2001, the first of a string of corporate scandals. Its fall marked a dramatic end to the stock-market boom and the beginning of a wave of corporate and regulatory reforms, including the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law.
Lay was 64 years old and faced the possibility of more than four decades in prison for his crimes. He put on a brave face after the verdict, but one cannot help but wonder if the prospect of dying behind bars put enough strain on his heart to lead to his death.
2 comments:
"but one cannot help but wonder if the prospect of dying behind bars put enough strain on his heart to lead to his death."
or take his own life?
Nah. An intriguing thought, but apparently not.
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