Judge Allows Feds To Pursue Seizure Of Lay’s Estate Assets

[EV_Ares]

From: The WSJ:

After former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay died on July 5, 2006, his conviction was thrown out by a federal court, the result of, ya know, abatement ab initio. The legal doctrine dictates that when a defendant dies before he has the chance to appeal, the conviction essentially gets wiped away.

But almost a year-and-a-half after his death, the assets of Lay’s estate are still very much in play, and the feds are playing hardball. After the convictions were erased, the feds filed the civil forfeiture action, pursuing the seizure of assets tied to crimes based on Lay’s convictions. Yesterday Judge Ewing Werlein in Houston ruled that the feds may continue with their bid to seize the assets. He allowed the government to seek nearly $13 million from Lay’s estate, including the upscale Houston condominium he and wife Linda Lay shared. The judge wrote that prosecutors had provided “ample allegations” of criminal activity tied to the cash and property in question to pursue its case. Here’s a Houston Chronicle story.

Lay’s family is represented by Samuel Buffone of Ropes & Gray in D.C. “The opinion of the court merely finds that the government has alleged a claim over the property,” he said to the Chron. “We are confident that once all the facts are known, the court will determine that the government has no valid claim to the assets.”

Interestingly, because Lay’s record is clean, the government will have to prove his guilt again at a civil forfeiture trial as though the criminal trial hadn’t happened, reports the Chron. But the burden of proof in a civil case (”preponderance of the evidence”) is lower than in a criminal case (”beyond a reasonable doubt”).

WSJ Subscription Only:

[madokie]

1. it all should be distrubuted to the victims of his scams imo

[BrklynLiberal]

2. At the very least. For sure, his family should not benefit from his ill-gotten gains.

...and neither should he, hiding out on that island somewhere...or in the desert of Saudi Arabia.:tinfoilhat:
EDIT: Bad typing...:crazy:

[madokie]

3. where ever his stinking ass is

he nor his wife should benefit form any of his fraudulent gains ever