Kenny Boy dead at 64

[lukpac]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/05/news/ne ... tm?cnn=yes

Enron founder Ken Lay dies
64-year-old former energy executive was awaiting sentencing for fraud.
By Shaheen Pasha, CNNMoney.com staff writer
July 5 2006: 10:31 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Enron founder Kenneth Lay died early Wednesday in Aspen, Colo., a family spokeswoman said.

Lay, 64, was awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in the Enron trial in May.

In a statement, spokeswoman Kelly Kimberly said, "The Lays have a very large family with whom they need to communicate, and out of respect for the family we will release further details at a later time."

CNN affiliate KPRC in Houston said Lay was admitted to the Aspen Valley Hospital overnight with a massive coronary.

On May 25, Lay was found guilty of 10 counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of Enron, the energy company he founded that eventually grew into the nation's seventh largest company before it imploded after an accounting scandal.

It was an astounding fall from grace for the Houston businessman who was once nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by President Bush. Lay had raised funds for Bush earlier in his political career.

In the Enron trial, Lay was accused of lying to investors and Wall Street about the health of Enron in late 2001 even as he enriched himself by selling millions of dollars in stock.

Lay was scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 23 along with Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, who was found guilty of conspiracy, fraud, making false statements and insider trading.

Both men faced 25 to 40 years behind bars, legal experts said.

Presiding Judge Sim Lake originally scheduled sentencing for Sept. 11.

Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001 after investigators found it had used partnerships to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflate profits. Enron's downfall cost 4,000 employees their jobs and many of them their life savings, and led to billions of dollars of losses for investors.

The collapse was the first of the high-profile corporate scandals that later rocked WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia and Tyco.

The wave of fraud led to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation meant to tighten oversight of how American companies were audited.

[krabapple]

My wife told me she heard *Tom Delay* died. Imagine my disappointment to find it was *Ken Lay*.

[CitizenDan]

Hope it hurt.

[Crummy Old Label Avatar]

I thought you meant that he had gone hunting with Dick Cheney.