Posted on 07/05/2006 10:22:12 PM PDT by Enchante
The government's forfeiture effort ahead of the planned sentencing of Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling this fall, however, has been thrown into doubt, at least in relation to Mr. Lay's assets since the death of a criminal defendant before his sentencing and the appeal process may void the criminal case against him.
"Technically, he was found guilty, but that's extinguished as of today," said Joel M. Androphy, a prominent defense lawyer in Houston.
.....
At issue, too, are Mr. Skilling's obligations to his lawyers. Mr. Petrocelli's law firm, O'Melveny & Myers, is awaiting more than $20 million of payments from its client for work carried out since last September. "Jeff wants to pay his lawyers, to whom he owes tens of millions of dollars," Mr. Petrocelli said, "and would like to satisfy family obligations including child support."
Lawyers for Mr. Lay may also be left with unpaid invoices. Michael Ramsey, a lawyer for Mr. Lay who experienced his own heart problems during the trial, declined to comment on Wednesday, saying simply, "I am not well."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It seems to me that Lay most likely has an 'estate' that may hold his assets. Sounds funny. Sorry, it's late.
HA! HA!
It was very clever of him to die
Of course the $s may be socked away in some "little" bank in the Cayman Islands that even his wife knows nothing about (or maybe she does).
High priced lawyers could come to $1000 an hour, and he had more than one of them. 10 such people would come to $20 mil within a year.
Didn't Tom Cruz bring down a BIG law firm by proving overcharges???
He managed his death....didn't want to spend endless years in prison without his fine cigars, liquors, and unbelievable standard of living. Just wonder how he got it done./???
That's one way to stiff the lawyers.
$20 mil and,for that, he was going to jail? How much if he beat the rap?
Question: Did he have the heart attack before or after he got the bill from the bottom feeders?
Hey! Don't self-zot just yet!! The info just got hot...
I truly feel for the guy's family, but this doesn't pass the smell test. It may be shear coincidence, but it wouldn't shock me if they find him living it up in some third world nation under a fictitious name and/or with an altered look.
If he used low priced lawyers, I guess he would have run the risk of being convicted.
It may seem like a lucky coincidence for Lay, but wouldn't surprise me at all if it's on the up-and-up . . . let's face it, the guy was an extremely old man, wasn't in the greatest health, and add to that probably the severe stress he was under.
Since WHEN is 64 "an extremely old man" ?
LOL
Please. Guilt aside, can you imagine the stress the man was under for the past 5 years?
No kidding! Ouch!
It was. They interviewed a lot of different people about it on our local news today.
One former Enron employee who lost everything said Lay "got off easy." Two of his pastors said he's in a "better place" (of course) and noted that he is much better off than if he had had to live through what he was facing.
Skilling is probably jealous.
Breaking right now: Lay's funeral will be Sunday in Aspen. Reserve your jet now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.