Joanne Cortez This is Me

 View all 36 references Web References

1. 1. www.lawsuitsearch.com

   www.lawsuitsearch.com/news/inv - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/31/2007   Last Visited: 12/4/2007

   The last day of testimony concerned some transactions that were troubling to the witness, Joanne Cortez, a credit manager at Enron. Mr. Lay was allegedly selling his stock back to the company in order to repay credit lines, and then borrowing again and repeating the process.
   ...
   The last day of testimony concerned some transactions that were troubling to the witness, Joanne Cortez, a credit manager at Enron. Mr. Lay was allegedly selling his stock back to the company in order to repay credit lines, and then borrowing again and repeating the process.

2. 2. Testimony from Lay, Skilling up next - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

   www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs. - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/30/2006   Last Visited: 3/30/2006

   But prosecutors sought to show through their final witness, Enron accountant Joanne Cortez, that he enjoyed being able to borrow millions of dollars from Enron and repay the loans with company stock as the energy giant was sinking.
   ...
   Cortez said she started compiling a spreadsheet of such transactions, which didn't have to be publicly reported until the next year.
   
   "I thought it was improper," she said, though she conceded on cross-examination that she didn't know Lay used the line of credit to repay bank loans under orders from those lenders.

3. 3. kingcountyjournal.com - Prosecution rests in Enron trial

   www.kingcountyjournal.com/site - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/29/2006   Last Visited: 3/29/2006

   Prosecutor Sean Berkowitz ended the government's presentation of evidence Tuesday in federal court in Houston after the last of 22 witnesses, former Enron employee Joanna Cortez, concluded her testimony in the ninth week of the trial.
   ...
   In testimony Tuesday, Cortez offered evidence that Lay used Enron stock to repay company loans in late 2001 while encouraging employees to buy more shares.
   
   Lay sold $20 million in shares back to the company in August and September 2001 even as he told employees the stock was an "incredible bargain," said Cortez, a senior specialist at Enron whose responsibilities included tracking Lay's line of credit.
   
   Lay repaid company loans in August and September 2001 with $20 million in shares, Cortez said. He didn't have to report the transaction to regulators. At a Sept. 26, 2001, employee forum, Lay, who reported purchasing $2 million in shares at the same time, said he had been buying Enron shares and asking other senior executives to do the same.
   
   "The public was unaware of him selling stock back to the company," Cortez told jurors. She said she was troubled by Lay's actions. "It was a clear indication that something was going on for the CEO to be selling so much stock," she said. She didn't sell her own Enron shares.
   ...
   By August 2001, Cortez said Tuesday, she was already concerned because Lay was repaying the company with shares and talking out new loans on the same day.
   
   "It made me wonder, question why it was being used as somewhat of a tool to sell shares," she testified. Cortez told the court that she created a separate schedule to record Lay's credit drawdowns in October 2001 after Lay extended his credit line to $7.5 million from $4 million.
   
   "I was upset, I cried," she said.
   ...
   Before Cortez took the stand, FBI Special Agent Robert Martin testified that Lay used $1.5 million in company loans to pay off a mortgage.