Lay Cross-Ex Wraps Up

Federal prosecutor John Hueston finished his cross-examination of Kenneth L. Lay by detailing Lay's assets in Enron's final days as a way of hammering home what Hueston hopes jurors will see as heartlessness.

Just before Enron declared bankruptcy in December 2001, Lay drew out his final $1 million from his $7.5 million company line of credit, while the Lay Family Foundation -- run by his wife, Linda -- sold 500,000 shares of Enron stock.

"At the end of [2001] you were worth $50 million, right?" Hueston said.

"Yes, but those were mostly illiquid assets, like real estate and private equity," Lay said.

"Of which at least $5.5 million was still totally liquid. You still took $1 million from Enron while its bankruptcy was being drafted," Hueston stated.

"Yes," Lay said.

"You said Enron's bankruptcy was a bankruptcy of liquidity," Hueston said.

"That's right," Lay said.

"You had a liquidity problem and Enron had a liquidity problem," Hueston said.

"Yes," Lay said.

"And you saw to it that you were taken care of before the employees were in those competing interests," Hueston concluded.

By Frank Ahrens |  May 1, 2006; 3:35 PM ET  | Category:  Dispatches
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Posted by: Jeff M. | May 1, 2006 03:48 PM

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