A jury has convicted Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling in their criminal trial related to the demise of the once high-flying company.

Lay, 64, was convicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy linked to the downfall of the company he helped build into the seventh-largest company in the United States.

Jeffrey Skilling speaks to reporters after being convicted on 19 of the 28 charges he faced.

Skilling, 52, was found guilty on 19 of the 28 charges he faced. He was convicted on one count of conspiracy, one count of insider trading, five counts of making false statements and 12 counts of securities fraud. He was acquitted on nine counts of insider trading.

The jury of eight women and four men reached their verdict on their sixth day of deliberations.

Sentencing for the two men is set for Sept. 11. Lay faces up to 45 years in prison, while Skilling faces a sentence of up to 185 years.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake set a $5-million US bond for Lay, who was ordered to surrender his passport before he left the Houston courthouse where the trial was held.

Lay was also convicted on a count of bank fraud and three counts of making false statements to banks in a separate trial heard by Judge Lake on Lay's personal banking. Lay faces a sentence of up to 120 years related to those convictions.

Lay "shocked" at verdict

Following a bond hearing, Lay emerged from the courthouse to tell reporters he was surprised and shocked at his conviction.

"Certainly, this was not the outcome we expected," said Lay, who was flanked by his wife Linda.

"I firmly believe I'm innocent of the charges against me, as I have said from day one," he said.

For his part Skilling said he was disappointed.

"But that's the way the system works," he said.

Skilling's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said they will mount a "full and vigorous" appeal.

Sean Berkowitz, the director of the U.S. government's Enron task force, also commented on the verdict. "The jury has spoken, and they have sent an unmistakable message to board rooms across the country: you can't lie to shareholders, you can't put yourselves in front of your employees' interests," he told reporters.

"No matter how rich and powerful you are, you have to play by the rules," he added.

In Washington, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said the message of today's trial is that criminal law will be enforced just as vigorously against corporate criminals as  against street criminals.

"No one, including the head of Fortune 500 companies, is above the law," he said.

Massive failure

Enron went bankrupt in December 2001 following revelations that it had hidden huge losses by using fraudulent partnership deals. The losses were kept off the company's balance sheet.

After the losses were revealed, the company's stock plunged, wiping out billions of dollars of investors' money.

Enron's collapse was the biggest case of bankruptcy in the United States up to that point. (WorldCom's collapse would later steal that dubious honour.) Roughly 5,600 Enron employees subsequently lost their jobs.