A sealed indictment was delivered Wednesday afternoon against former Enron Corp. Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay, according to courthouse sources. The charges were to be disclosed Thursday when Lay, 62, apparently will surrender to authorities.

Sixteen of the grand jury members were present Wednesday, and at least 12 of them voted for the indictment, according to sources. The foreman of the grand jury issued the indictment along with Enron Task Force prosecutors John Hueston and John Hemann. If the indictment is handed out to Lay as expected, it most likely would resolve the grand jury’s work.

In the past few weeks the grand jury, which was empanelled by the Enron Task Force about two and a half years ago, has heard testimony from several former Enron employees and members of Lay’s family (see Daily GPI, June 22). The grand jury heard two weeks of testimony in June, all focused on Lay. Those questioned included Lay’s former Chief of Staff Steven Kean, former Enron General Counsel Jim Derrick, Lay’s children and his bookkeeper. According to courthouse sources, the grand jury has questioned witnesses about the following:

The Enron grand jury was impaneled in March 2002 and prior to the expected Lay indictment, it had indicted 23 people on charges relating to the collapse on Enron. Those previously indicted by this group include bankers and 16 former Enron executives. Others have been charged and waived indictment.

In related news, on Wednesday, Lay’s wife Linda Lay closed a consignment store that she has been running in Houston and indicated that it was for sale.

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