Former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay is seeking a meeting with federal prosecutors to discuss reports that he would be indicted within two weeks, his lawyer said on Monday.
Michael Ramsey, head of Lay's legal team, also reiterated his belief that the government had no case against his client.
"I don't believe Ken Lay will be indicted at all. Ken Lay didn't do a crime," Ramsey told a press conference.
The Houston Chronicle reported on Saturday that prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice's Enron Task Force would seek a grand jury indictment in the next two weeks, although sources told Reuters such a move was not imminent.
Lay, 62, guided the now-bankrupt company for years, transforming the once-obscure pipeline company into one of the world's largest and most sophisticated energy traders.
Enron collapsed in a massive financial scandal in 2001 after the Wall Street favorite's abuse of off-the-books partnerships to hide billions of dollars of debt and inflate profits became known.
Ramsey said Lay has met several times with prosecutors investigating Enron, and that the most recent meeting took place about a month ago.
"Any questions they have, we have an answer for," Ramsey said. "We want to have as much interplay with the government as possible."
Although the government had not yet responded to Lay's request, Ramsey said he expected a meeting would take place later this week in Washington.
Prosecutors have been tapping several former Enron employees about the inner workings of the company, including former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who agreed in a plea deal to cooperate with investigators in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.
Lay, a major financial contributor and political ally of President George W. Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, returned to Enron's chief executive post after Jeff Skilling resigned shortly before the company imploded in late 2001.
Skilling pleaded not guilty in February to 35 counts of fraud, insider trading and misrepresenting Enron's finances.
The fall of Enron touched off investigations that uncovered widespread financial fraud in corporate America and caused the high-flying energy trading industry to collapse.
