Collapsed Enron scandal under scan again

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to reopen one of the biggest
corporate scandals in US history by hearing the appeal of former
Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling.    Skilling, who is
currently serving a 24-year prison sentence and has doggedly insisted
he did nothing to defraud investors, reportedly broke down in tears
when he heard the news.     'Jeff is overwhelmed with joy,' lawyer
Daniel Petrocelli told the Houston Chronicle.    Enron's spectacular
2001 collapse, the largest corporate bankruptcy in history at the
time with more than 40 billion dollars in outstanding debt, came to
epitomise corporate greed in the heady days of the Internet boom.
Skilling and Enron Founder Kenneth Lay hid company losses and hyped
the stock's value while selling their own shares on the sly as the
massive energy empire crumbled.    Thousands of people lost their jobs
and life savings when Enron collapsed. The ensuing scandal
undermined faith in corporate America and led to a massive stock
market sell-off.    Followed by other mega scandals — the collapse of
WorldCom, excesses at Tyco — Enron led to significant regulatory
changes.    The case was also one of the most complex involving
corporate crime in US legal history and represented a high-profile
test for the government's crackdown on corporate wrongdoing.    Lay
died of heart failure in July 2006 before he could be sentenced and
his conviction on 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and banking
violations was thrown out because his death prevented him from
appealing the verdict.    Skilling, who became the poster child for
corporate malfeasance, appealed his May 2006 conviction by
challenging the federal law that punishes executives who fail to
provide 'honest services.'    His lawyers argued that the statute is
'vague and unenforceable' and does not require proof that the
accused received a personal gain from the alleged fraud.     'The
government instead alleged that Skilling took assertedly
inappropriate measures to maintain or improve Enron's stock price, in
violation of his fiduciary duties of 'honesty,' ' candor,' 'loyalty'
and 'honest services,'' his lawyers argued in court filings.    The
Supreme Court agreed in May to review the conviction of newspaper
tycoon Conrad Black based on his appeal of the same honest services
statutes that prosecutors have increasingly used to crack down on
executives and government officials.    The former Enron chief also
appealed on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial.
'Skilling was pronounced guilty throughout Houston long before
trial,' his lawyers argued in court documents, noting that 'the
seismic effect of Enron's collapse on Houston (was) frequently
compared by residents to the September 11 attacks.'    Media coverage
included 'blistering daily attacks on the executives — principally
Skilling and Lay — deemed responsible for Enron's demise,' they
lamented.     'Skilling and Lay were compared to Al-Qaeda, Hitler,
Satan, child molesters, rapists, embezzlers and terrorists,' they
wrote, arguing that the jury pool was 'biased' and their request for a
change of venue should have been approved.    They further argued
that the 'honest services' statues under which Skilling was
prosecuted are ' vague and unenforceable.'     'The government told
the jury that this case was 'not about what caused the bankruptcy of
Enron or even about greed,' the lawyers wrote.