Former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are on trial in Houston for one of the biggest corporate upsets in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors, who've charged Lay and Skilling with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy, argue the pair hid the company's troubles from investors and are to blame for the energy giant's implosion in December 2001. Its collapse wiped out more than 5,000 jobs and a billion dollars in retirement savings.
The defense says there was no overarching conspiracy to lie to investors, and that a business failure is not a crime. Below, profiles of the defendants, and a look at some of the key witnesses on the prosecution's list:
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