Enron Ex-Chairman Sells Last of Property in Aspen at a Loss

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay and his wife, Linda, have sold the last of their Aspen, Colo., properties at a loss.

The couple closed the sale of a nearly 5,000-square-foot home for $5.5 million Thursday, listing broker Joshua Saslove said.

The Lays incurred a $620,000 loss on the four-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath house, which they bought for $6.1 million in August 2000, according to Pitkin County assessor’s records.

The Lays lost $296,000 on another house that they sold in March for $4.5 million.

But the $916,000 in losses is more than offset by gains on two other properties in the upscale mountain town.

Last year, the Lays sold a cottage for $10 million and an undeveloped lot above the Aspen Art Museum for $2.15 million. The Lays had purchased the properties for a total of $3.55 million.

Lay resigned as chairman of Enron in December 2001 after the Houston-based energy giant filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of massive losses that had been hidden by a web of accounting abuses.

Criminal charges have been filed against former Enron finance chief Andrew S. Fastow, the alleged mastermind of the schemes. His former top aide, Michael Kopper, pleaded guilty in August 2002.

Neither Lay nor former Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling has been charged.