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The self-inflicted 2001 implosion of Ken Lay’s fraudulent paper tiger, Enron Corp., kicked off an extraordinary season of corporate scandals featuring a dizzying number of Bush Pioneers…who still walk the streets. The $550,025 that Ken Lay’s Enron Corp. gave Bush by mid 1999 made it his No. 1 career patron, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Lay, whom George W. Bush affectionately called “Kenny Boy,” became a master electrical power broker by mastering political power trading. “Virtually every … aspect of Enron’s operations is overseen by the federal government,” the Dallas Morning News noted in 1996. Enron even had software, dubbed “the matrix,” that estimated how much a particular regulatory change would cost. A tax dodger that received more than $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies, Enron was a huge political donor that kept a stable of ex-government officials on retainer (see Rob Mosbacher and William SchubertD. Stephen Goddard); law firm Vinson & Elkins (see Thomas Marinis); and investment firms too numerous to mention. Several Enron officials have pled guilty or been indicted for accounting fraud and manipulating California’s electricity market but its top officials remain at large. Despite a doctorate in economics, Lay has argued that he did not grasp the complex financial deals that Enron used to book huge profits--and cover up staggering losses. A report by Enron’s bankruptcy court examiner in late 2003 concluded that he and CEO Jeff Skilling “breached their fiduciary duties” because they “knew or should have known” Enron was cooking the books. The report said Lay could owe Enron’s creditors $94 million for repaying company loans with company stock.
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Of Special Interest
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| Profile last updated
Jan 8, 2004
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