Ken Lay Has Died

Ken Lay passed away early this morning, apparently due to a massive heart attack. Lay, of course, had been convicted of securities fraud in relation to the Enron debacle, but had not yet been sentenced. Interestingly, it appears that because of his death, which occurred while his appeal was pending, the entire criminal case against him is voided ab initio. In other words, it is as if Lay had never been indicted or convicted. Petter Henning of the White Collar Crime blog opines that this will have the effect of shielding Lay’s family against the government’s forfeiture case, and possibly estopping civil plaintiffs from using the conviction as evidence in any civil case against Lay’s estate.

More analysis and reporting from the Houston Chronicle, the Denver Post, and Peter Lattman of the WSJ Law Blog.