"Kenneth Lay's Conviction Erased From Record
Ruling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions"
Ruling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions"
Evidentally, there is a tradition of expunging the records of dead men. Even 13 counts of fraud which cost thousands of jobs, millions of dollars, and one Governor his job.
In this case, I think the tradition is wrong, because not only did this jackal escape this mortal coil without serving a second of time, now he gets to escape the noose of official record. This is a disgrace.
Shout it from the rooftops, the mountaintops, and the top of the Capitol building. Never let them forget.
Ken Lay's not dead - he's hiding out on a yacht in the port of Dubai.
ReplyDeleteRuling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions"
The word "worries" should be replaced with SCREWS.
While there's irony with Lay "escaping justice," there's a more real life upshot as well.
ReplyDeleteLay was on the hook for a $44 million judgment -- that money was to go to Enron employees who had lost their pensions. Because of this expungement, that settlement is now null and void because Lay had not exhausted all of his appeals. That $44 million now goes to Lay's heirs.
The SEC could still go after the money in a civil suit, but the fact that there is now no official record of his crimes means that the fact he was convicted is now inadmissable in court -- making it nearly impossible to get a ruling.
Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy.
Pssst ... Ken, it's safe to come out now. (Although Dubai looks pretty awesome in a surreal kind of way.)
ReplyDeleteI can't take credit for it (Covington can), but the lesson in all of this is: Crime really does pay if you just fake your own death. :-)
ReplyDelete