U.S. v. Jeffrey K. Skilling

Skilling and other Enron executives engaged in a scheme to deceive the investing public, the SEC and others about the true performance of Enron’s businesses. The scheme was designed to make it appear that Enron was growing at a healthy and predictable rate, that Enron was comprised of a number of successful business units, and that the company had an appropriate cash flow. It had the effect of inflating artificially Enron’s stock price, and artificially stemming the decline of the stock during the first three quarters of 2001. The fraud scheme eventually unraveled and Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, making its stock virtually worthless.