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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Apple Computer Inc. said Friday that Chief Executive Steve Jobs "was aware [of] or recommended" some favorable stock-option grant dates but cleared him and other current management of any wrongdoing. Apple also said it faked a special board meeting and would absorb $84 million in charges linked to misdated stock options. The findings alleviated some investor concerns, with AAPL84.84, +3.97, +4.9%) shares rising 5% to $84.84 Friday, punctuating a tumultuous week. "We believe that investors can now focus on the fundamentals, including pending product launches," in 2007, wrote Banc of America Securities analyst Keith Bachman, who...

Perhaps it is one of the fruits of the “self-esteem” emphasis in our schools that so many people feel confident to voice strong convictions about things they know little or nothing about — or, worse yet, are misinformed about. One of the hardest things for anyone to be informed about is the value of someone else’s productivity. Yet there are cries from all directions that some people are being paid “too much” and others “too little.” Judging Worth Who can possibly be better informed about the value of what someone else produces than those who use the goods or services...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ordered ex-Enron chief executive office to report to prison immediately, according to the Houston Chronicle. On Monday, the court said Skilling could remain free while it considers granting him bail, according to court documents. Skilling was scheduled to report to federal prison in Minnesota on Tuesday to begin a 24-year sentence for his role in hiding Enron's financial condition from investors as the company's fortunes eroded prior to its 2001 collapse.

See for example this thread first. So Skilling gets 24 years Well, that's too bad! *SNIFF* Hold my beers! I hate to be terse But what makes it worse Is the fees spent on lawyers, I sneers.

Breaking

Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for his role in the energy company's 2001 collapse in what become one of the nation's biggest corporate scandals. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered Skilling to home confinement with an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements. He told the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to recommend when Skilling should report to prison and suggested he be sent to the federal facility in Butler, N.C. "This is not an easy decision,'' Lake said. "Sentencing is the most difficult and least pleasant part of my job Mr. Skilling has...

HOUSTON -- A federal judge Tuesday vacated the conviction of Enron founder Kenneth Lay who died in July, wiping out a jury's verdict that he committed fraud and conspiracy in the months before his company's collapse. Mr. Lay was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases on May 25. Enron's collapse in 2001 wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans. Mr. Lay died of heart disease July 5 while vacationing with his wife, Linda, in Aspen, Colo. U.S. District...

A Bronx charity will pay the city back $625,000 that had been intended for children and the elderly but was improperly lent to Air America Radio... -snip The state attorney general’s office is continuing to look into the misuse of the funds, and the case has been transferred from its charities bureau to the criminal prosecutions bureau, two people close to the investigation said yesterday. City investigators found that the charity, based in Co-op City and formerly known as the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, lent $875,000 to Air America Radio. At the city’s request, the network put the...

ZURICH: Swiss bank UBS is ready to transfer Iraqi-held deposits in UBS accounts in the United States to the US authorities, a spokesman for Switzerland's largest bank was quoted as saying on Sunday. Spokesman Axel Langer said that funds blocked since 1990 would be transferred to the US Treasury in line with a US government request. The money in the UBS accounts came from transactions between US oil firms and the Iraqi state oil company. Langer declined to say how much cash was involved or whether other accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere were affected as well. The Swiss foreign ministry...

Many people believe that government and business are warring factions, and that political parties typically align with one or the other. But the truth, as Timothy P. Carney points out in his new book, is that big business is often in bed with big government and that both Republicans and Democrats have helped forge a partnership that consistently rips off ordinary Americans. Carney's new book, The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money, exposes this nasty partnership in detail—from Boeing subsidies to Ethanol mandates—and shows just how taxpayers lose their money and their voice in Washington....

After Enron's former chairman Ken Lay died on July 5 of a heart problem, the mainstream media were quick to point out how President George W. Bush affectionately once called the convicted criminal "Kenny Boy." Numerous references were made to the close ties between the two.SNIPHistory shows, however, that Lay supported Ann Richards when George W. Bush first ran for governor of Texas in 1994. While it is true that Lay and Enron gave some $6 million to various candidates and both parties, mostly to Republicans, at least $1.5 million went to Clinton and the Democrats. What did Lay and...

A. Enron's chairman did meet with the president and the vice president in the Oval Office. B. Enron gave $420,000 to the president's party over three years. C. It donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities. D. The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times. E. The corporation had access to the administration at its highest level and even enlisted the Commerce and State Departments to grease deals for it. F. The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction. Scandalous!! BUT...the president under whom all this happened WASN'T George W. Bush....

Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay had three severely clogged arteries and had experienced at least two heart attacks before he died, according to autopsy results released Wednesday. The report blames severe coronary artery disease for Lay's death. It also said the autopsy showed Lay had suffered at least two previous heart attacks and had two stents implanted.The Lays were vacationing near Aspen, Colo., when he died. The report, prepared by the coroner in Mesa County, Colo., said Lay was last seen alive by his wife on July 5 at 1 a.m., when he woke up and went into a bathroom.Minutes...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S.-based electricity producer Mirant Corp. (NYSE:MIR - News) has begun seeking bids for its multi-billion dollar power plants in the Philippines, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Mirant has sent out a short sale document on the asset to potential bidders, including some Japanese firms and financial investors, the sources, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Mirant is selling its ownership interest in three generating facilities in the Philippines -- in Sual, Pagbilao and Ilijan -- that account for 2,203 MW in generating capacity. Banking sources say the Philippine asset, estimated by some...

Bankers bailed as FBI claims emails expose plan 'to get rich' through Enron deal The NatWest Three were released on temporary bail by an American judge last night, although a legal row raged on over whether the suspected fraudsters should be allowed to return to Britain. [snip] Investigators say they have discovered that the three British investment bankers prepared a remarkable slideshow in their attempts to entice two crooked Enron executives into an alleged swindle. Details of the show, which have been seen by the Guardian, suggest the bankers were planning what they described as a "robbery" of a secretive...

Conspiracy theories abound in wake of Enron leader's death. HOUSTON — Mark Twain once said reports of his death were premature. In the case of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, reports of his death were national news, and there are still people who don't believe it. "Some people will go to any lengths required to escape the joint. Besides, he is not hanging out with Elvis. He's writing songs with Jim Morrison," said a posting to Dilbert creator Scott Adams' blog. Lay died July 5 while vacationing with his wife, Linda, in Aspen, Colo., and did in fact escape his...

The Metropolitan Police said a man's body was found Tuesday in a park in east London, but declined to identify him. The force said the death was being treated as unexplained, and homicide officers were investigating. The British Broadcasting Corp. and other outlets identified the dead man as a senior banker with the Royal Bank of Scotland who had been questioned by the FBI in the case of three British bankers facing Enron-related fraud charges. The FBI said it would not comment on any aspect of the case.

GARY MULGREW, David Bermingham, Giles Darby, Ken Lay, Eliot Spitzer, Hank Greenberg — the list goes on. The first three, now known as “the NatWest Three”, are awaiting extradition to the United States to face charges in connection with the collapse of Enron. Lay, of course, is — was — the founder of Enron, and a former client and friend. Found guilty of a variety of crimes, his death in Aspen last week ends the probability that he would be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. Spitzer and Greenberg, the New York attorney general and the...

Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay has just died, just over a month after being convicted of fraud, and almost five years after his company's cataclysmic collapse. The common perception of Lay is that he and other Enron leaders brought about the company's fall because, eager to make money, they schemed to bilk investors. The ethical lesson, it is said, is that we must teach (or force) businessmen to curb their selfish, profit-seeking "impulses" before they turn criminal. But all this is wrong. Enron was not brought down by fraud; while the company committed fraud, its fraud was primarily an attempt...

Lawyers likely to argue that entire case has effectively been voided BARRIE MCKENNA WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Lay's sudden death could prove to be an unexpected legal bequest to Jeffrey Skilling, his co-defendant in the landmark Enron Corp. fraud case. Mr. Skilling's legal team will almost certainly invoke Mr. Lay's demise to try to reverse his own fraud and conspiracy conviction or demand a retrial, legal experts said yesterday. That's because Mr. Lay's death Wednesday of an apparent heart attack effectively voids the entire case against the Enron founder, including the guilty verdict. Mr. Skilling, the former Enron chief executive officer...

The purveyors of revisionist political history are back at work this week, inspired by the death of Enron Corp. founder -- and convicted felon -- Kenneth Lay to revive the myth that were it not for Enron and Lay, California wouldn't have experienced its 2001 energy crisis. ... --snip-- Attorney General Bill Lockyer had the good manners to remain silent about Lay's death from heart disease three months before he was to be sentenced for lying to mask the failing company's condition. It was Lockyer who in 2001 told an interviewer that "I would love to personally escort Lay to...

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday he hopes Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay's "heart was right with the Lord" when he died before he could be sentenced on fraud and conspiracy charges. Bush called Lay, who was a friend of the Bush family and a large donor to the president's campaign, "a good guy." He said he was shocked to hear both about the Enron scandal and Lay's death this week from a heart attack at age 64. "I was really surprised," Bush said on CNN's "Larry King Live." "You know, my hope is that his heart was right with...

...because Ken Lay's case may still have been appealed, Lay's death expunges the conviction from his record. This means that any orders to vacate his wealth are annulled, and his family gets to keep millions of dollars that they likely would have lost had he gone to jail.

"It is well established in this circuit that the death of a criminal defendant pending an appeal of his or her case abates, ab initio, the entire criminal proceeding." United States v. Asset, 990 F.2d 208 (5th Cir. 1993). In a recent Fifth Circuit decision, United States v. Estate of Parsons, 367 F.3d 409 (5th Cir. 2004), the court explained that "the appeal does not just disappear, and the case is not merely dismissed. Instead, everything associated with the case is extinguished, leaving the defendant as if he had never been indicted or convicted." In Parsons, the court vacated a...

It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, but Kenneth Lay's passing elicited little sympathy from average Americans on Wednesday. I spent much of the day trolling Internet message boards and blogs, polling Chronicle readers and talking to legal and other sources, trying to get a sense of how the public feels about Lay's death and how it will affect the legal proceedings against him. Lay was the former chairman and CEO of Enron, a name that became synonymous with corporate greed and wrongdoing, sparking a major reform movement in Congress. Enron also played a lead role ripping off...

Ken Lay’s sudden death could make it harder to recover any of his Enron loot, victims of the company’s collapse were warned yesterday. And even if they do get some money back, it could delay matters for a year or more. Federal prosecutors are so far refusing to comment on whether they will still pursue their $43.5 million legal claim against the former Enron chairman. But legal expert Michael Fee, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at top Boston law firm Ropes & Gray, says the claim may now be moot. The problem? Prosecutors would have been looking...

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...

HOUSTON — Enron Corp. founder and former CEO Kenneth Lay, who was convicted for his role in one of the largest instances of business fraud in U.S. history, died of coronary artery disease and there was no evidence of foul play, according to a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy. Mesa County Coroner Robert Kurtzman told reporters in a televised news conference in Grand Junction, Colo., Wednesday that his preliminary examination showed clogged coronary arteries to be the cause of death. Lay died hours earlier on Wednesday while vacationing at a rental home near Aspen. Lay was awaiting an Oct....

Enron and the Clintonites The Clintonites may have been more accommodating than the Bushies. by David Brooks 01/21/2002, Volume 007, Issue 18 ON JULY 5, 1995, Enron Corporation donated $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Six days later, Enron executives were on a trade mission with Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor to Bosnia and Croatia. With Kantor's support, Enron signed a $100 million contract to build a 150-megawatt power plant. Enron, then a growing giant in energy trading, practically had a reserved seat on Clinton administration trade junkets. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who egregiously linked political donations to government assistance, accompanied ...

I am no fan of corrupt businessmen and politicians, but I think we should cut Lay some slack. Why? He served our country. If serving the country shields Kerry and Murtha from attacks, the same should apply with Lay.

by Mark Finkelstein July 5, 2006 Merely because someone has just died doesn't mean you can't use the article announcing his death to take a swipe at President Bush. If you're the Associated Press, that is. In this article, published only minutes after Lay's death, the AP somehow found it pertinent , after only three short paragraphs announcing the death, to report that Lay was "nicknamed 'Kenny Boy' by President Bush." The MSM has gotten more mileage than a Prius coasting downhill out of W's 'heck of a job, Brownie' to then-FEMA Director Michael Brown in the wake of Katrina....

cause of death unknown

Last update - 22:22 01/07/2006 U.S. to pay $48 million to cover damages to Gaza power station By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service United States officials said they expect that U.S. funds will be used to pay for the damages caused by an Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Palestinian power station in the Gaza Strip. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe. The Foreign and Defense Ministry departments that oversee foreign relations were unaware of the decision to target civilian facilities in the Strip, or the decision to...

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 27 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Robert Greifeld said on Tuesday he expects changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law in 2007. The Nasdaq chief said he sees the changes will come within the law's stiff internal controls accounting mechanisms -- known as Section 404 -- and how it is applied and judged. "I make the prediction that in 2007 we will see refinement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act whether it comes directly from the legislature or Congress getting involved with the (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)," said Greifeld, speaking...

When most people hear the word "Enron," they mentally complete the phrase by adding the word "scandal." As reporter Lester Holt of NBC's "Today" put it in a Jan. 1 story, "Enron has been the poster child, if you will, of corporate scandals." It isn't the only one, though. There's $40-billion scandal with most of the same elements -- even connection to prominent politicians. Just don't expect to see much about it on TV. After all, the top people involved here are Democrats. Welcome to Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage giant. As part of a scandal that's been running nearly...

Former Enron Corp. President Jeffrey Skilling says he contemplated suicide after his company crumbled and authorities began to ratchet up legal pressure on him. "I've come to the conclusion that life is better than the alternative, which was not a conclusion that was real clear to me for a period of time," Skilling told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published in Saturday editions. Skilling, 52, said he sought psychiatric help but was only able to emerge from a deep, two-year malaise after his 2004 indictment in which he was charged with conspiracy, fraud and insider trading, among other...

Jose Lazo overcame a childhood as an illegal immigrant, an education in alternative schools and the collapse of Enron Corp. But Lazo, 21, a nationally known spokesman for displaced Enron workers, may not be able to overcome a specter from his past. After rising from a life of poverty to a $40,000-a-year job straight out of high school, Lazo now faces deportation back to his native El Salvador because he impregnated a 13-year-old fellow student when he was 17. The girl insisted the sex was consensual, and the two are now married, but that did not prevent him from being...

Last week's guilty verdict of 25 counts in the case against Enron executives, Ken Lay and Jeffery Skilling, demonstrates that the corporate governance laws in place prior to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act were effective in bringing those who defraud our investors to justice. Post-Enron, there is general agreement that after Sarbanes-Oxley was passed, financial reporting reporter requirements are tighter, internal controls have improved, and there is more transparency in the overall auditing process than pre-Enron. However, data clearly shows that the cost of the implementation of a minor provision of the Act now outweigh the actual benefits of...

When Richard Kinder left Enron in late 1996 he set out to build an empire out of the staid yet steady energy pipeline business. Nearly 10 years later he plans to take Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., where he is chairman and chief executive, private in a $13.5 billion transaction that could be one of the largest such buyouts in U.S. corporate history. Kinder, along with members of his management team, board of directors and a group of investment firms, wants to give Kinder Morgan Inc. shareholders $100 cash for every share, an 18.5 percent premium over KMI's $84.41 closing price...

Last week a Houston jury found former Enron CEOs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling guilty of multiple federal crimes arising from their fraudulent management of Enron. Lay and Skilling will likely spend most of their remaining lives in prison. That is appropriate, since both knowingly broke the law at the expense of their shareholders.

ENRON'S Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are about to trade their corporate suites for prison cells. Sometimes the system works. As prosecutors argued and jurors apparently agreed, Enron collapsed -- not because of bad press or market forces beyond executives' control -- but because of criminal choices and "outright lies." In retrospect, it boggles the mind that Lay and Skilling thought their lawyers could talk their way out of a conviction. It was smooth talk, after all, that sealed their fate. Jurors were especially incensed that Lay assured Enron employees that the company's stock was a great buy in 2001,...

 Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were known as visionaries, hands-on executives, corporate titans directing the high-flying ship at Wall Street darling Enron Corp. Add another title: convicted felons. "Certainly we're surprised," a shaken Lay said Thursday after a jury capped a four-month-long fraud and conspiracy trial and in its sixth day of deliberations returned guilty verdicts against him and Skilling. "I think it's more appropriate to say we're shocked. This is not the outcome we expected." Besides all six counts in the main trial, Lay, Enron's founder, also was convicted of four charges of bank fraud and making false statements...

HOUSTON - Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were known as visionaries, hands-on executives, corporate titans directing the high-flying ship at Wall Street darling Enron Corp. Add another title: convicted felons. "Certainly we're surprised," a shaken Lay said Thursday after a jury capped a four-month-long fraud and conspiracy trial and in its sixth day of deliberations returned guilty verdicts against him and Skilling. "I think it's more appropriate to say we're shocked. This is not the outcome we expected." Besides all six counts in the main trial, Lay, Enron's founder, also was convicted of four charges of bank fraud and making...

by Mark Finkelstein May 26, 2006 You almost expected the Edwin Hawkins singers to turn up on the set. For, short of Hillary raising her right hand on the steps of the Capitol some time in January of 2009, it just doesn't get much happier for Today than this morning. In one fell news cycle, George Bush and Enron evil-doers laid low. It couldn't have come quick enough for Katie Couric. Interviewing Tim Russert on the president's mea culpa performance of yesterday, in which he admitted to mistakes in his handling of Iraq, she asked: "Do you think both men...

Once in prison, Lay and Skilling could be living with drug dealers and gang members The elimination of notoriously comfortable "Club Fed" lockups, along with a recent trend of handing out hard time to Enron-related convicts, could mean Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling will share prison space with drug dealers, child pornographers and gang members.White-collar criminals used to be able to count on assignment to minimum-security prisons, known as "Club Feds" because of their cushy conditions — dorm-style living, fewer guards and restrictions — particularly compared with traditional units. But the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has closed four of those...

See for example this thread first. With the conviction of Mr. Lay (of Enron fame) just let me say: He made a killing just like Jeffrey Skilling. In this case I think crime did pay!

Enron's Ties to Bush Run Deep Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement after the guilty verdicts of Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling for their involvement in the Enron scandal: "Today's guilty verdicts are another victory against the Republican culture of corruption that led President Bush’s buddy Ken Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Jack Abramoff, Representative Tom Delay and others to believe that they were above the law. The Enron scandal epitomizes the pay-to-play politics that has enveloped the Bush White House and Republican-controlled Congress. Ken Lay was defrauding his employees and investors but he had no problem keeping...

Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron was convicted of fraud in the Enron case and faces the certainty that he will spend the rest of his life in jail, unless.... See the rest at the SactoDan BLOG.

Lay, Skilling guilty on nearly all counts Former CEOs convicted of fraud, conspiracy, face lengthy.....