Did Ken Lay Fake His Death?
Status: Undetermined (I refuse to give him the benefit of the doubt)
Ken Lay was reported dead on Wednesday. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be severe coronary disease. But almost as soon as word of his death hit the internet, the conspiracy theories started. Scott Adams summed up what many were thinking in his Dilbert Blog: Does it seem suspicious to you that ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay died right before they could put his guilty ass behind bars? I wonder how many doctors you need to bribe to fake your own death. Is one enough? Or is there some special double-checking that the police do if the guy is heading for prison? I’m sure there’s a body, but I wonder if it’s his. I have a bad feeling that some pizza delivery guy’s last words to his coworkers were “Hey, I have a delivery to that Enron guy’s house! Wish me luck!”
Reality Rule 16.1 from Hippo Eats Dwarf seems appropriate here: For some, death is merely a career move.The timing of Lay's death is what makes it so suspicious. It's not just that he died before serving any time. He died before the appeals process was completed and before being sentenced. Therefore, his convictions could be erased, severely complicating efforts to seize his assets. As the New York Times reports:
Mr. Lay's death effectively voids the guilty verdict against him, temporarily thwarting the federal government's efforts to seize his remaining real estate and financial assets, legal experts say. "The death of Mr. Lay in all likelihood will render the government's hard-fought victory null," said Christopher Bebel, a former federal prosecutor based here who specializes in securities fraud...
Any life insurance policies bought by Mr. Lay may also be shielded from federal seizure efforts since state laws normally cover such payments. While jurors found Mr. Lay guilty, his death may also complicate any efforts to go after life insurance proceeds, even if the original policies were acquired with ill-gotten gains.
In other words, Lay picked the perfect time to die. Of course, this doesn't mean he faked his death. It just makes his death seem awfully convenient for him (if he's still alive) and his family. (There's also a theory that he was murdered... or perhaps he could have committed suicide by using drugs to induce heart failure. I believe there are drugs capable of doing this.)Any life insurance policies bought by Mr. Lay may also be shielded from federal seizure efforts since state laws normally cover such payments. While jurors found Mr. Lay guilty, his death may also complicate any efforts to go after life insurance proceeds, even if the original policies were acquired with ill-gotten gains.
Lay isn't the first multi-millionaire to be suspected of faking his death. In 1932 billionaire Swedish businessman (and mega-swindler) Ivar Kreuger apparently committed suicide by shooting himself. But a rumor soon spread that he had actually faked his death and fled to Indonesia. Supposedly Kreuger's tobacconist later received from Sumatra a large order for custom-made Havana cigars. The tobacconist said that Kreuger was the only person who would have known how to place that order.
There's also the case of Michael de Guzman, geologist for Bre-X, and perpetrator of one of the greatest mining frauds in history. In March 1997 de Guzman supposedly committed suicide by jumping from a helicopter into the Indonesian jungle. But his corpse could never be positively identified, and last year one of his widows claimed that he had recently sent her money. So he might very well still be alive. Perhaps he's hiding out somewhere in an Indonesian resort with Ken Lay.
Oh, and this photo of Ken Lay's tombstone that's doing the rounds is obviously fake (1964-2006??? That would have made him 42). Last year the same picture was used to represent Johnnie Cochran's tombstone.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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My personal conspiracy theory is that the Bush people had Ken Lay whacked. I don't mean they had a Mob guy shoot him; they put something in his martini or something.
Ever seen Wag The Dog? Remember what happened to Dustin Hoffman's character, Stanley Motss? Any chance Kenny Boy might have tried to barter information about the administration for a lighter sentence?
For the record, I'm only about half-serious about this. Things like this DO happen; I'm just not sure it happened in THIS case.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy on Sat Jul 08, 2006 at 11:48 PM
Ever seen Wag The Dog? Remember what happened to Dustin Hoffman's character, Stanley Motss? Any chance Kenny Boy might have tried to barter information about the administration for a lighter sentence?
For the record, I'm only about half-serious about this. Things like this DO happen; I'm just not sure it happened in THIS case.
I cast my vote into the hoax box...
Posted by Christopher in Joplin, Missouri on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 07:50 AM
That Tombstone picture came from here:
http://www.jjchandler.com/tombstone/
Make your own tombstone - fun for all!
Wally
Posted by Wally on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 09:05 AM
http://www.jjchandler.com/tombstone/
Make your own tombstone - fun for all!
Wally
We talked about this around the office water cooler Friday. Our top theories were:
1. Kennie Boy (as his pal George W. Bush calls him) faked his death; and
2. His wife offed him so she wouldn't lose all the money he stole.
In any case, I hope there will be a thorough investigation, but given the way corporate criminals are coddled in this country, there probably won't be.
Posted by Big Gary in Marfa, Texas on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:03 AM
1. Kennie Boy (as his pal George W. Bush calls him) faked his death; and
2. His wife offed him so she wouldn't lose all the money he stole.
In any case, I hope there will be a thorough investigation, but given the way corporate criminals are coddled in this country, there probably won't be.
I would bet that there is more than a 50% chance that Lay is alive, especially because he is close to the Bush family, and therefore has special connections to all the secret government operations.
The Bushes have already proven that large illegalities are of no concern to them; certainly they would have no problem with a small illegality on behalf of and old friend and HUGE political contributor.
This may have all been pre-planned by Rove & Cheney, and approved by the boy President.
Posted by SoxSweepAgain in NYC on Tue Jul 11, 2006 at 06:41 AM
The Bushes have already proven that large illegalities are of no concern to them; certainly they would have no problem with a small illegality on behalf of and old friend and HUGE political contributor.
This may have all been pre-planned by Rove & Cheney, and approved by the boy President.
To ad an element to the conspiracy mode; one of the witnesses in the ENRON scandal has been found dead in a London park this Tuesday...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5173228.stm
Posted by LaMa in Europe on Wed Jul 12, 2006 at 11:31 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5173228.stm
Just for info - taking digitalis can give you an heart attack - if he committed suicide that's probably what he took.
But it is all very mysterious - I'd have thought it anyone was going to have a heart attack it'd be at a moment of great stress, like in court, or when he was arrested. And after all that embezzling, that man was so rich enough to arrange to 'disappear'. And it's been done before - look at John Stonehouse
Posted by Nona in London on Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 04:49 AM
But it is all very mysterious - I'd have thought it anyone was going to have a heart attack it'd be at a moment of great stress, like in court, or when he was arrested. And after all that embezzling, that man was so rich enough to arrange to 'disappear'. And it's been done before - look at John Stonehouse
I took into consideration that some Bush cronies might've whacked him, but the convenient timing of his "death" served to benefit both himself and his family. You only whack someone when they are dangerous to you or they messed up. Well, throwing him in prison for life seems like ample punishment so it couldn't be that. Neither seems to be the case here for the criminal elite running the gov't.
It seems to me paying a couple million to a doctor and forensic lab to produce a phony body here and a couple million to make the police look the other way there is very much plausible. Unfortunately, nobody can prove any of this. What a piece of trash Lay is.
Posted by Drew in Ontario, Canada on Fri Sep 07, 2007 at 05:41 PM
It seems to me paying a couple million to a doctor and forensic lab to produce a phony body here and a couple million to make the police look the other way there is very much plausible. Unfortunately, nobody can prove any of this. What a piece of trash Lay is.
I cast my vote into the hoax box
Posted by Life Insurance on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 07:15 AM
He's sitting pretty with an expensive rubber nose job living in Switzerland chewing down $200 steaks $1000 bottles of wine and $5000 hookers. He travels to limited areas of the world often on one of his four private jets. He has even returned for visits to the US three times since his faked death. One particular visit was for Bush Sr birthday party.
Posted by greenback in usa on Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Faked...
1. Death cert. had time stamp dated the day before his death.
2. Coroner brought in from Mesa county.
3. Entered hospital as inpatient where one person works counter at night.
4. Collin Powell came to hospital next morning with stomach pains.
5. Sheriff is 26 years in office and was at fat farm that week.(Alcohol rehab.)
6. Lay's conviction overturned He Keeps his money.
Posted by alexei in Aspen on Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 03:41 AM
1. Death cert. had time stamp dated the day before his death.
2. Coroner brought in from Mesa county.
3. Entered hospital as inpatient where one person works counter at night.
4. Collin Powell came to hospital next morning with stomach pains.
5. Sheriff is 26 years in office and was at fat farm that week.(Alcohol rehab.)
6. Lay's conviction overturned He Keeps his money.
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