Countdown: Kent Lay said not to be a "hands on" manager and

[LittleApple81]

that is why they say it is going to be difficult to indict him. SO IF THEY ARE HANDS-OFF WHY DO THEY GET ALL THE HANDOUTS in terms of salary and bonuses? If they don't know what is going on, they are not doing the job they were supposed to be doing. Then he should return all the money, with interest. And go to jail for not doing his job.

And he is not the only idiot getting millions every year for SINKING their companies and "not knowing" what is going on.

[aquart]

1. Try not to believe everything they tell you.

Really. Until you have sat on a jury and listened to a secretary swear that a $600 million dollar company doesn't keep records, you have no idea with what determination these people will lie.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Just like Bush. They are both equally culpable IMO

[Zorra]

3. Bu$h Pioneer Profile of Ken Lay: 2000

So, if he was not a "hands on manager", WTH did Enron pay him $42.4 million for? Political connections?

Name: Kenneth Lay
Occupation: Chair & CEO, Enron Corp.
Industry: Energy & Natural Resources
Home: Houston, Texas
1999 Salary & Perks: $42.4 Million

The $550,025 that the Enron Corp. gave Bush over the years makes it his No. 1 career patron, according to the Center for Public Integrity. “Virtually every … aspect of Enron’s operations is overseen by the federal government,” a ’96 Dallas Morning News story noted. Not surprisingly, this global natural gas giant and its top executive are big political contributors who keep revolving doors whirling. Lay hired President Bush’s cabinet members James Baker and Robert Mosbacher as they left office. After President Bush’s ’93 Gulf War victory tour of Kuwait, Baker and other members of his entourage stayed on to hustle Enron contracts. The Clinton administration also threatened to cut Mozambique’s aid in ’95 if the world’s poorest country awarded a pipeline contract to a different company. Enron got Bush to contact Texas’ congressional delegation in ’97 to promote a corporate welfare program in which U.S. taxpayers finance political risk insurance for the foreign operations of corporations such as Enron. Enron plants around Houston—which surpassed LA for the title to the nation’s worst air—are “grandfathered” air polluters that exploit a loophole in state law to avoid installing modern pollution-control technologies. Earlier this year the Houston Astros inaugurated their new Enron Field, which was financed with $180 million in public tax dollars and $100 million from Enron. In return, Enron landed tax breaks and a $200 million contract to power the stadium. Topping Enron’s political wish list in Texas was deregulation of the state’s electrical markets. Bush signed this dream into law in ’99.

http://www.tpj.org/pioneers/kenneth_lay.html

[unblock]

4. people with certain titles of public companies

such as, "ceo" or "enron, inc.", just as a wild example, can be legally held to certain standards based on the office, at least for certain laws. they can be properly found guilty of crimes even there zero proof they knew of something criminal, simply by virtue of the public requirements of the office.

note, in particular, that ceos of public companies must sign documents such as quarterly and annual financial disclosure reports with the sec.

ceos of companies that engage in securitizations, as enron did quite a bit, must also sign quite a number of disclosure, due diligence, and audit documents as well as contracts for the securitizations themselves.

hand-off works fine if you can really trust the people you're handing off to. but you are putting your own responsibilities in someone elses hands.


it's a bit like when you let your spouse handle your taxes. it's fine and works for many people, but it doesn't mean you're not legally liable for whatever your spouse files with the irs.

[otohara]

5. Dufus Lay Much Like Bush

no wonder they liked each other