Ex-Enron CEO pleads innocent in corruption case
By KRISTEN HAYS, AP Business Writer
Last Updated: July 8, 2004, 10:35:48 AM PDT
HOUSTON (AP) - Enron Corp. founder and former chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay pleaded innocent Thursday to charges he was involved in a wide-ranging scheme to deceive the public, company shareholders, government regulators and others.
"Not guilty, your honor," Lay, speaking loudly and clearly, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy at a court hearing hours after he surrendered to the FBI and was hustled to the federal courthouse in handcuffs.
A federal indictment unsealed Thursday added Lay to charges already filed against his hand-picked protege, former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, and former top accountant Richard Causey, and accused Lay of participating in a conspiracy to manipulate Enron's quarterly financial results. It also accused him of making public statements about Enron's financial performance that were false and misleading and omitting facts necessary to make financial statements accurate and fair.
Milloy set his bond at $500,000. Prosecutors had sought a $6 million bond, saying he was a flight risk.
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