Ken Lay is dead but the ghost of Enron lingers. Lay's death has stirred up an enormous response from the public.

Some were saddened, but more were angry and furious at the timing. Some even went so far as to claim there was a weird conspiracy and demanded DNA tests:

"I don't believe Ken Lay is dead. With all that stolen money, he just brought a new identity. Now, watch his wife disappear in a couple of weeks to join him. Have we all forgotten ... money talks! - BDM"
"I agree with those who say this smells fishy. Call in the FBI and other unbiased authorities. Sadly, this country has allowed greed to be the evil it is often referred to. Even now, there are those admiring and emulating Ken Lay. - Another skeptic"
"Ken Lay is not dead. He more than likely bought off the Coroner's office and Sheriff's Department in Colorado and is now living it up in South America. - CIA"

Bizarre as these claims might be, there is a serious message: the US Government and the public is not going get closure.





It's a point taken up by Bloomberg's Ann Woolner who points out that Lay, believe it or not, died an innocent man. At least legally speaking because as a general rule,if a conviction hasn't gotten past the first appeal, it is supposed to be dismissed:

"Lawyers for Lay, who was to have been sentenced in October, have taken only the first step toward challenging his conviction," writes Woolner."Appealing it would have taken months, possibly years.
"And so, Lay's death erases the criminal conviction that it took the federal government 4½ years to win.
"The federal appeals court whose rulings apply in Texas has repeatedly said a conviction isn't final until it is reviewed and affirmed, assuming the defendant challenges the verdict."

Lay couldn't clear his name in the court-room but he might well have achieved it by dying, says the Houston Chronicle.

And that creates problems for the civil suits seeking damages. Lay's death all but ensures defense lawyers will seek to throw out his criminal conviction and it casts serious doubt on the ability of the government and investors to recover money from the Lay estate, say legal experts.

It's a point taken up by Peter Henning in his White Collar Crime Prof blog:

"An interesting question is whether one can still describe Lay as having been convicted of a crime, at least in a technical sense, because the law no longer recognizes there having been any criminal case initiated against him.
"Unlike the criminal case, civil claims against Lay, such as the SEC's case and the securities class action, will continue against his estate. However, because the criminal conviction is wiped out, the plaintiffs cannot rely on it as proof in their case, if my dim memory of collateral estoppel serves me right."

But perhaps the truest observation comes from William Neikerk in the Chicago Tribune blog.

Neikerk is spot on when he suggests that in the years ahead, Sarbanes-Oxley will remain Ken Lay's legacy. Business might resent the legislation but if they look behind it they will find Enron's shadow.

"Though Lay died today from a massive heart attack, the post-Enron reforms that his company's bad acts inspired will live on and keep corporations on their toes. Many firms dislike these reforms, and claim that they force them to spend too much money following a law that requires them to insure their books are above board.
"But that's the price of credibility in today's corporate world. It's no longer business as usual."