-Caveat Lector- >>>Lay's used to be a potato chip if it still isn't ... A<:>E<:>R<<<
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/11703_zbus_enron.html Grand jury investigates former Enron chairman's loans By The Associated Press (1/17/03- Houston) — A grand jury investigating activities of former Enron Corp. chairman Ken Lay has reportedly heard testimony from two former members of the fallen energy trading company's board of directors. Sources told the Houston Chronicle in Friday's editions that Charles LeMaistre and John Duncan were called this week as information witnesses on Lay but were not targets themselves. Grand jurors for months have been investigating stock trades by and company loans to Lay, the sources said. LeMaistre, the retired head of University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center who ran the Enron board's compensation committee, and Duncan, a former Gulf & Western Industries executive who also served on the compensation committee, left the board last February. Federal investigators have been trying to determine if Lay broke insider-trading laws when he sold $70 million in stock in 2001 as the company plunged toward bankruptcy. Attorneys for Houston-based Enron filed what was then the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history on Dec. 2, 2001. After more than six months of meetings, the grand jury has already indicted former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and three British ex- bankers. The panel is also investigating Enron's broadband division to determine whether its financial and technological performance was misrepresented by company officers, including former CEO Jeff Skilling. "The directors are cooperating with the Department of Justice as they have cooperated with other investigating bodies," Neil Eggleston, a Washington, D.C.- based lawyer for the board members, told the newspaper. An Enron Task Force prosecutor investigating Lay, Samuel Buell, would not comment Thursday about the investigation. Prosecutors are not allowed to discuss grand jury proceedings. Last May, former Enron board members were also called to testify last May before a Senate subcommittee investigating the company. Board members told the panel they had no idea that Lay was withdrawing millions in loans and repaying the money with stock options. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report in July criticizing the board for allowing Lay to draw down repeatedly on a line of credit, then repay the loan with stock. Lay used the credit line between October 2000 and October 2001 to obtain $77 million from the company, repaying with Enron stock. LeMaister earlier told the Senate committee, "We never had any responsibility to monitor this." But the panel's report blasted the directors for ignoring red flags about Enron's financial and accounting practices, arguing that only the board could control Lay's behavior. An attorney for the directors responded that they "can't be in a position to check on every fact going on in a company" and that they were themselves kept in the dark or lied to sometimes. The newspaper said grand jurors have heard in recent months from Enron's former general counsel, Lay's secretaries, accountants and even his children. This week, a secretary of Lay's reportedly testified before the grand jury. Mike Ramsey, Lay's lawyer, did not return a telephone call early Friday from The Associated Press. Ramsey has earlier said nothing was wrong with Lay's trading or his use of the loan options he had at the company. (Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) - Talk about this story - General posting board Last Updated: Jan 17, 2003 A<:>E<:>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article has to stand on its own merits. Therefore, unless I am a first-hand witness to any event described, I cannot attest to its validity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
