Enron chief appeals for conviction to be overturned

Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling has asked a judge to overturn his guilty verdict based on an August decision that reversed four other Enron-related convictions.

Skilling, 52, was found guilty in May of fraud, insider trading, conspiracy and lying to auditors for actions leading to his abrupt resignation in August 2001.

Four months later, his company, once the US' seventh-largest, went bankrupt amid revelations of inflated profits and hidden debts.

Now Skilling is asking US District Judge Sim Lake, who presided over his trial, to dismiss those counts or grant a new trial in light of a federal appeals court ruling in New Orleans that Merrill Lynch employees accused of assisting Enron in defrauding investors were doing what Enron wanted them to do and did not profit at its expense.

As a result, the court ruled, they did not deprive Enron of “honest services”.

Skilling faces sentencing on October 23 and could be sent to jail.

His motion, filed on Tuesday, also asked for bail pending appeal.

The legal statute “honest services” had been applied too broadly before the appeals court clarified its application, said Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling’s lawyer.