Former Merrill Lynch exec gets 30 months jail for role in Enron barge scam News
Former Merrill Lynch exec gets 30 months jail for role in Enron barge scam

[JURIST] Former Merrill Lynch [corporate website] executive Daniel Bayly has been sentenced to 30 months by in prison US District Judge Ewing Werlein for his role in an Enron Nigerian barge scam. Bayly will also face six months of supervision after prison and must pay $840,000 in fees and fines. Judge Werlein found the losses caused by Bayly's crimes to be $1.4 million. In sentencing Bayly, Werline said he considered sentences given to other Enron defendants. While awaiting the sentencing, Bayly has been under house arrest in Connecticut for refusing to relinquish control over an $80 million account. The judge is scheduled to sentence Bayly's codefendant James A. Brown, former head of the bank's asset lease and finance group this afternoon. Brown faces upwards of 30 years in prison over conspiracy, fraud, perjury, and obstruction charges. Their three remaining codefendants, bankers Robert Furst and William Fuhs and Enron's Dan Boyle, will be sentenced in May. Bayly and his codefendants have argued that their conspiracy and fraud should be thrown out because they led to no victims, no losses and that the deal was good for Enron [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic news archive] shareholders. Read the indictment [PDF] against the five involved in the barge deal. The Houston Chronicle has more and continuing coverage of the Enron barge trial.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.