If Black is found guilty, it is clear his sentence “will be considerably longer than 29 months,” Gandz said…Jacob Frenkel said “if (Black is) charged, if there’s a trial, and if there is a conviction, we would be looking at a sentence…into two decades.”
In January 2004, Enron’s former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow agreed to a 10-year prison term and to testify against his former bosses, after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy…He is expected to be a key witness in the fraud trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay, which is not scheduled to begin until January - giving prosecutors two years to assemble Fastow’s information…
The SEC’s case is seeking restitution of more than $500 million…“The criminal aspect, from a shareholder’s perspective, is important because it helps Hollinger International prove its civil case…Shareholders are not recovering meaningful money as a result of the criminal actions. $250,000 is great, but when you’re looking for $500 million it doesn’t go a long way.”
Legal experts agreed that Radler’s plea bolsters the chances of success in the civil case, and that criminal convictions would go even further. The standard of proof in criminal cases is beyond a reasonable doubt, while in civil cases it’s the balance of probability, Gandz said.
