Skilling Says He, Lay Never Broke The Law

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060412/ap_on_bi_ge/enron_trial



Skilling Says He, Lay Never Broke the Law
By KRISTEN HAYS, AP Business Writer

HOUSTON - Former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling spoke up for company founder Kenneth Lay for the first time in the executives' fraud and conspiracy trial Wednesday, saying the two were a "good team" that never knowingly broke the law.

The ex-CEO has focused on addressing prosecution testimony damaging to himself since he took the witness stand on Monday.

Even though most criminal counts pending against him and Lay allege crimes that occurred at different times before Enron crashed in scandal in December 2001, an overarching conspiracy count alleges they participated in a sprawling effort to portray Enron as strong when they knew accounting tricks hid bad news and weak ventures.

Skilling told jurors neither he nor Lay perpetuated such a ruse.

"Lay & Skilling: How Enron Improved the Economy and Enriched American Lives"

In a recent interview, Skilling stated: The blackouts were necessary. These served as a wake up call to the energy industry and saved many lives in the process. Enron also proved that mishandling money and shredding documents can be a positive move for the good of all investors.

:P

I'll give you two quarters and a dime.