Ex-Enron exec says Lay, Skilling knew earnings claims exaggerated News
Ex-Enron exec says Lay, Skilling knew earnings claims exaggerated

[JURIST] Mark Koenig, former executive VP of investor relations at Enron [JURIST news archive], testified in the early stages of the prosecution case Wednesday that founder Kenneth Lay [Houston Chronicle profile] and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling [Houston Chronicle profile], both on trial for fraud and conspiracy [indictment, PDF], knew about changes to quarterly earnings reports in January and July 2000 made in an attempt to surpass Wall Street estimates of the company’s financial performance. The testimony conflicts with the assertions of Skilling and Lay, who have both maintained in their defense that no financial figures were ever changed. Koenig, who pleaded guilty [US DOJ press release] to aiding and abetting securities fraud in August 2004, also told jurors that Skilling exaggerated the success of Enron’s broadband division to analysts in 2000 and 2001. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.