Former Enron Corp chiefs are seeking much more than a "not guilty" in the US government's premier criminal trial to emerge from the company's stunning collapse. They want to exonerate Enron, too.
Their lawyers steadfastly asserted on Tuesday that the men have committed no crimes, nor did they look the other way while minions cooked the books because Enron was never rife with corruption and greed.
"This is not a case of hear-no-evil, see-no-evil," said former CEO Jeffrey Skilling's lead attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, at times punctuating his opening statement by jabbing his finger at jurors. "This is a case of there was no evil."
Lawyer Michael Ramsey said his client, Enron Corp founder Kenneth Lay, and Skilling were energy trading pioneers who deeply loved a company felled by an acute crisis of market confidence "almost Greek-like in its tragic proportions."
But a federal prosecutor told the more familiar story: Lay and Skilling repeatedly lied to maintain Enron's polished image of success when they knew the heady profits and growth were illusory.
"This is a simple case," prosecutor John Hueston told jurors in the government's opening statement. "It is not about accounting. It is about lies and choices."
Hueston said Lay and Skilling sold Wall Street, auditors and Enron employees on a tale of "simply magical ability" to record consistent growth, but fragile financing was behind it all and "inside the doors of Enron, something was terribly wrong."
The dramatically different presentations kicked off what could be a four-month trial of Lay and Skilling, who are accused of fraud and conspiracy and could face decades in prison if convicted.
Enron went bankrupt in December 2001, six weeks after announcing massive quarterly losses and a US$1.2 billion writedown in shareholder equity. The company once loved by Wall Street suddenly faced suspicion and hostility that sent investors fleeing. Thousands of employees were left jobless and investors lost billions.
Skilling faces 31 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors. Lay faces seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
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