Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A lawyer for former media baron Conrad Black urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn his fraud conviction, and several justices asked whether the federal law at issue was too vague. The Canadian-born Black, a member of Britain's House of Lords, has been in prison since March 2008, when he began serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice. Attorney Miguel Estrada, representing Black and two ex-colleagues who were found guilty of defrauding shareholders of one-time newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International Inc, argued before the Supreme Court that all convictions in the...

Convicted ex-Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling's more than 24-year prison sentence for his role in the once mighty energy giant's collapse could be reduced by as many as 10 years if a federal judge approves an agreement reached Wednesday between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Under the agreement, which Justice Department officials say includes a previous court-ordered reduction of as much as nine years, Skilling's original sentence will be reduced to somewhere between 14 and 17.5 years. The agreement still has to be approved by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who is set to hold a June 21 hearing in Houston...

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...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Government star witness Andrew Fastow repeatedly admitted during cross-examination on Thursday he was a liar and a cheat as the defense tried to refute his testimony that former Enron Corp. chief executives Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay covered up their company's crumbling finances. He said he had no written documents to back up his allegations against his former bosses, but said they were part of a broad conspiracy among Enron executives to mislead investors while enriching themselves. "I was suggesting the senior management at Enron, not only Mr. Skilling, engaged in a pattern of actions that painted...

(snip) After a spectacular collapse that left thousands jobless and slammed Wall Street with billions in losses, the firm's founder and former CEO are to be tried in a federal courthouse — only a few blocks from the firm's former headquarters with its swiveling "E" logo. More than 100 potential jurors were slated to pack a cavernous federal courtroom here on Monday, the first step in the trial of Kenneth Lay, 63, and Jeffrey Skilling, 52. (snip) Skilling faces 31 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors for allegedly lying about Enron's financial strength. Lay faces seven...

Filed at 5:52 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two of the largest corporate collapses have at least one thing in common: company chairmen who took their creations to great heights, reaped millions from stock sales -- and said they knew nothing of problems until it was too late. Kenneth Lay's defense after Enron Corp.'s spectacular downfall was that he was largely uninformed of how the energy-trading company's finances worked. In congressional testimony this week, Global Crossing Ltd. Chairman Gary Winnick could not remember receiving a single warning about potential problems at his fiber-optic company, although senior executives were sounding alarms...

Five years ago, several executives at McKinsey & Company, America's largest and most prestigious management-consulting firm, launched what they called the War for Talent. Thousands of questionnaires were sent to managers across the country. Eighteen companies were singled out for special attention, and the consultants spent up to three days at each firm, interviewing everyone from the C.E.O. down to the human-resources staff. McKinsey wanted to document how the top-performing companies in America differed from other firms in the way they handle matters like hiring and promotion. But, as the consultants sifted through the piles of reports and questionnaires and...

Enron Corp. and at least two other power sellers combined to profit by using false information to resell extra power during California shortages in 2000, according to internal Enron memos.THE TWO MEMOS, co-written by an Enron attorney and an outside counsel, detail a system in which Enron’s trading unit requested power on behalf of the company’s retail customers in California that wasn’t actually needed. The memos call it ” ‘dummied-up’ load from EES,” or Enron Energy Services, the retail unit where Army Secretary Thomas White was then vice chairman.Enron’s trading unit obtained the power from utilities outside California that couldn’t...

Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron chief executive, was unhappy at efforts by directors to obtain more details of the failed energy group's controversial off-balance sheet partnerships, according to one board member. The Financial Times has learnt that, although Mr Skilling told congressional investigators he did not know the details of partnerships, several board members have said he gave quite detailed board presentations about them. Mr Skilling has acknowledged his own involvement in overseeing the partnerships, but has said he relied on accountants and lawyers for advice on the propriety of the off-balance sheet structure. The unravelling of the partnerships helped precipitate...