Enron's Lay lied about cash problems -witness

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-21T231028Z_01_N21175175_RTRIDST_0_ENRON-TRIAL-PICTURE.XML

HOUSTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Former Enron Corp. CEO Ken Lay lied about the company's precarious financial health in its final weeks even after learning it had no access to new sources of cash, a former Enron executive testified on Tuesday.

The witness, Paula Rieker, worked as a top investor relations executive and corporate secretary at Enron, and her testimony at the trial of Lay, 63, was the strongest yet linking the former chief to wrongdoing at the company that was once the seventh largest in the United States.

Rieker attended Enron board meetings and had regular contacts with Lay. She said that by October 2001, less than two months before the company filed for the then-largest U.S. bankruptcy, Lay sought to calm employees' fears about Enron's cash position at a company-wide staff meeting.

"I recall Mr. Lay saying that liquidity was fine, and then he strengthened his statement to say that liquidity was strong," Rieker said under questioning from prosecutor John Hueston.

But just days before that, Enron finance executives had told Lay and the company's board that the markets were punishing Enron's bonds because of growing pessimism about its finances, and Enron would not be able to raise additional cash to solve its woes.

"I believe that they had determined the capital markets were closed to Enron at this time," Rieker said.

...more...

Imagine that! A dear close friend, Kenny-Boy Lay, of *Co - a LIAR!

[goforit]

1. Hmmmm......need more juice on this one.

[lyonn]

2. Early this a.m. this witness was mentioned on CNBC

Rieker was expected to be a critical witness for the prosecution. I too would like to hear more about her testimony, better yet something on tv. Lay needs to be put to rest behind bars for the rest of his scheming life for ripping people and States off. He screwed Calif. royally.

[cliss]

3. Bring it on. Make sure everyone knows

Old Ken Lay is not as innocent as he claims to be. Just watch, he'll be found out as the Kingpin in this whole sordid mess.

Ken Lay has been saying for the past 3 years, "It's unfortunate that I was misled by Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow" as if he was an ethical man, and his underlings were actually evil. yeah right.

That little guy, the Mr. Magoo look-alike (Or Elmer Fudd), is going to be skewered.

[napi21]

4. I know this is Federal court so no cameras, but I don't understand why

there's almost NO media coverage! I see your link its to Reuters, and I guess I understand that, but what's wrong with CNN, MSNBC, CNBC etc?

I want to know because I'm an accountant and everything in the Enron story has disgraced the accounting community! But I'm sure if I lived in Calif. I'd be very interested because of what that Co. did to the State! And I didn't even mention all the stockholders and employees who lot a LOT and sometimes everything!!!!

[mrdmk]

5. Are you kidding, the news media has been propaganda in disguise of

in name of better positive news and entertainment. Very few people here in California know that Ken Lay meet with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dr. Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum about California's energy problems starting when Mr. Bush Jr. took over in the White House. From what I understand there were several other people were invited to this meeting, but these were the only two persons to show-up.

[leesa]

6. Well..DUH.

[maddezmom]

7. kick

[phoebe]

8. 'He was using Enron like a damn ATM' (Ken Lay)

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=264987&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/

snip

As a vice-president of investor relations and corporate secretary for Enron's board, Paula Rieker viewed the energy trading giant's inner workings as it rose to be a Wall Street darling and then imploded in scandal.

snip

And then Lay enraged the board months later when directors learned, after he quit as CEO in January 2002, that he'd repaid more than $70-million in company loans with Enron stock in 2001, even as the company careened into bankruptcy protection.

"They were outraged," she said of the board and quoted one member, John Duncan, saying: "He was using Enron like a damn ATM machine."


snip

She said Lay told analysts in October 2001 that retail energy contracts valued at $30-billion would "growing at very rapid rates for at least three, four or five years" when he knew the values had been shrinking, Rieker said.


Apparently "Kenny Boy" is being represented by his daughter Elizabeth Vittor - ???

Apologies if already posted

[tabasco]

9. Sort of like Bush and his corporate cronies are using the Treasury

Goddamn dirty rotten crooks.

[wordpix]

17. Good analogy--"BushCo using US Treasury like damn ATM machine"

[phoebe]

20. ..considering that Diebold manufactures many of them..

n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. Enron Accounting. The same way Cheney ran Haliburton.

Can't wait till the connections start being made.

[elehhhhna]

12. ...and the BA runs our economy.

[cantstandbush]

28. This is NO different than the way the folks like the Bush's and other

corporate crooks use corporate stock money.

[elehhhhna]

11. 70 MILLION in personal co. loans? Sheesh didn't they pay him enough?

[kayice]

13. Apparently not since his wife whined publicly that they had to sell

their homes and have a rummage sale to make end meet. :nopity:

[elehhhhna]

14. Yeah, while wearing a 25K watch...btw she said that AFTER they

set up an untouchable (by the courts) annuilty that pays them 900K per year FOR LIFE, and GOD KNOWS how much dough is stashed in the Caymans.

[pinniped]

21. Kenny's Rolex Day-Date?

.

[elehhhhna]

26. Panther something or other

[Critters2]

24. I liked how they

held impromptu news conferences in front of his church. Turns out Ol' Kenny boy is Methodist, like W and Dick. Wesley must be spinning in his grave!!

Ken's just lucky I'm not his pastor. I can't tell people they're going to hell, but I can sure tell 'em they deserve to!

[tenshi816]

29. Kenny Boy's dad was a minister.

He was from a very poor, very religious family and from what I've read, young Ken was determined to do better in life than his father had. I wonder when the rot set in, when just "doing better in life" turned into a never-ending quest for more and more money and power. Was Ken Lay always an amoral and duplicitous character, or did he become one after he started rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Bush family?

[Yavin4]

15. Sounds Like The TV Show, "Arrested Development"

They got it right.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

16. "I may have committed a little...light treason."

[wordpix]

18. our CT officials under JohnCon Rowland handed KennyBoy $220 million

that Kenny promptly lost when Enron soon after went belly up.

This guy needs to go to jail big time and tell us what happened to CT's money while he's at it.

[WhiteTara]

19. and Florida's pension funds

and and and and and. May he spend the rest of his life in prison. The view of Kenny Boy in prison orange, sleeping on a bad mattress, 100 thread count sheets and an arcylic blanket, eating bad food three times a day is enough to make me smile.

[Dulcinea]

22. Kenny Boy's punishment should be:

Don't send him to prison. Instead, make him pay back every dime he stole, and then personally apologize to each & every Enron employee & stockholder who was left with nothing thanks to his machinations.

Then he gets to flip burgers or wash dishes for the rest of his life, with his wages garnished to pay his debts if need be. You see, people like him fear poverty more than anything, & having to associate with people who work for a living forevermore will be worse punishment than anything the penal system could dole out.

[Critters2]

23. That is a good idea!

Make ol' Kenny boy wonder where his next meal is coming from...along with his wife.

I like. I like a lot!

:thumbsup:

[UTUSN]

25. All the reports of daily testimony sound damning. And yet, Not Guilty? n/

[Judi Lynn]

27. THE ENRON TRIAL: Unruffled, ex-exec says she followed company lin

Feb. 23, 2006, 1:22AM
THE ENRON TRIAL
Unruffled, ex-exec says she followed company line

By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Former Enron executive Paula Rieker was unflappable Wednesday as her ex-boss Ken Lay's lawyer unsuccessfully tried to unravel her contentions that she, Lay and many others followed the company line in misrepresenting Enron's financial health to outsiders.

Rieker, the former managing director of investor relations and secretary to the board of directors after September 2001, said she never told Lay specifically that he was engaging in wrongdoing. But she said she did unsuccessfully try to get him to correct some false statements.

She said there were times she blinded herself to what was going on at Enron.

"I fell into the role of being a good corporate citizen," she said.

The 51-year-old has pleaded guilty to insider trading and is cooperating with the government hoping for a lighter sentence. She is the fourth witness in this conspiracy and fraud case against Lay and former CEO Jeff Skilling .
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3679154.html



Paula Riekerr