The Department of Justice’s Enron Task Force has filed a motion in a Houston federal court seeking to try former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay in May or June on bank fraud charges for allegedly issuing false statements for loans he obtained.

Lay pleaded innocent after he was indicted last July on 11 criminal fraud and conspiracy charges (see Daily GPI, July 9, 2004). Last October, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake separated the bank fraud indictment from the conspiracy case against Lay and his two co-defendants, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and Richard Causey, former chief accountant. The conspiracy trial is still scheduled for January 2006.

Since Lake separated the charges, Lay’s fraud trial date, in which he is the only defendant, has been uncertain. However, prosecutors said in court papers that the hiatus before the start of the conspiracy trial next year will allow the bank fraud trial to proceed.

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