Major Developments Major Developments by Calendar Year

On 5^th May, 2006, Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay were both found blamed (guilty) for conspiracy and fraud of all corporate fraud cases. Skilling was found guilty on 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, false statements, and insider trading. Lay was found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud. In a separate bench trial, Lay was guilty of four counts of fraud and false statements. Legal experts said that both Lay and Skilling could face 20 to 30 years in prison. Moreover, Lay would face an additional large term in prison for his conviction in the bank fraud case. Houston-based “Enron”, was once one of the hottest companies on Wall Street, collapsed in a matter of months after Skilling suddenly resigned as CEO in August 2001. Lay, who was Chairman at the time, postponed his retirement plans to return to the leadership. Enron’s collapse illustrated the first of the high-profile corporate scandals that rocked the nation, followed by WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia, and Tyco. The wave of fraud led to legalization of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that tightened supervision of how American companies are audited. After a government investigation that took 4-1/2 years, prosecutors presented evidence that Lay and Skilling managed a conspiracy to artificially increase profits, hide millions in losses, and misrepresent the true nature of the company’s finances.