bribery

COMMENTARY

Householder goes to prison, but special interest corruption continues as usual in Ohio politics

BY: - July 5, 2023

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is a federal prisoner. That should give all the others in state government with their hands in the cookie jar pause, right? A once all-powerful Statehouse boss faces 20 years behind bars for orchestrating the biggest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history. That’s deterrence enough for Householder’s political colleagues […]

COMMENTARY

Analysis: Where are Ohio’s guardrails against corruption?

BY: - March 14, 2023

This is the first of three analysis pieces from former PUCO Commissioner Ashley C. Brown analyzing the failures and deficiencies in Ohio’s utility regulation and anti-corruption guardrails. Perhaps the most notable — but least commented on — aspect of the House Bill 6 bribery scandal is the almost complete absence of any meaningful state guardrails […]

FirstEnergy fights to keep records tied to bribery scheme from the public

BY: - October 5, 2022

Akron-based utility FirstEnergy Corp., which has admitted to spending tens of millions bribing top government officials, asked state regulators to shield documents about its bribes from release to the public. The company’s request will soon be decided by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, whose former chairman Sam Randazzo allegedly accepted a $4.3 million bribe […]

DOJ asks regulators to back off investigation into FirstEnergy bribery case

BY: - August 17, 2022

Federal prosecutors who brought a sweeping criminal case against FirstEnergy Corp. and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder are now asking state regulators to hold off on their own investigations into the matter. In a letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Kenneth L. Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, asked […]

Judge boots lawyers from FirstEnergy bribery suit for failure to ‘diligently prosecute’

BY: - July 14, 2022

In an unusual move in a high-profile lawsuit, a federal judge booted lawyers from a lawsuit they filed against FirstEnergy Corp. for their failure to “diligently prosecute” the case against the scandal-mired company. U.S. District Judge John Adams said Wednesday he would appoint counsel on behalf of the shareholders who sued the company in connection […]

Before bribery scandal, JobsOhio forgave a $12m loan to FirstEnergy to clean up a coal plant

BY: - May 2, 2022

JobsOhio gave FirstEnergy Corp., which later admitted to paying millions in bribes to a ranking politician and the state’s top utility regulator, a nearly $12 million loan in 2015 that was forgiven two years later. The Akron based company used the money to clean up a coal fired power plant in Belmont County that it […]

FirstEnergy deposition looms in shareholder lawsuit for bribery, misleading investors

BY: - April 25, 2022

It has been nine months since FirstEnergy Corp. admitted to federal prosecutors that it bribed Ohio’s top utility regulator and the speaker of the Ohio House. Investors in the electric utility may soon get the chance to ask a few follow-up questions about how the $64 million operation came together. Besides the criminal allegations against […]

Judge orders FirstEnergy to turn over records tied to bribery scandal

BY: - April 21, 2022

An administrative judge for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio once again ordered FirstEnergy Corp. to hand over thousands of documents to a watchdog state agency, partially rebuffing the company’s request for a four-month delay. The ruling Wednesday caps off a drawn-out fight over records the company has already given to federal regulators for an […]

FirstEnergy fights to slow-walk subpoena for records tied to bribery case

BY: - April 12, 2022

Despite public promises of transparency, FirstEnergy Corp. is fighting a legal battle to slow-walk its production of documents subpoenaed by a consumer watchdog agency related to the company’s self-professed bribery operation. FirstEnergy, which owns three electric utilities in Ohio, has already successfully narrowed the scope of the documents it was ordered to turn over related […]

FirstEnergy’s CEO and SVP ordered $64 million bribery scheme, shareholders say

BY: - March 24, 2022

FirstEnergy’s CEO and senior vice president “devised and orchestrated” a $64 million bribery scheme to pay a top legislative leader and utility regulator in exchange for official action, according to a sworn declaration Wednesday from shareholders’ lawyers who are suing the company. While CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones and senior vice president for external affairs Michael […]

Both FirstEnergy and its shareholders seek secrecy around company’s bribes

BY: - March 18, 2022

Both FirstEnergy Corp. and its shareholders argued to a federal judge that they shouldn’t be forced to publicly disclose which executives ordered the payment of political bribes that the company admitted to in a related criminal case. The two parties are awaiting judicial approval of a proposed settlement from a derivative lawsuit filed by FirstEnergy’s shareholders. […]

Mysterious nonprofit with AEP ties has $3 million to unload, tax records show

BY: - March 17, 2022

Under shadow of a public corruption probe centered on the utility industry and its use of untraceable political spending, a nonprofit with close ties to American Electric Power disclosed harboring $3 million in the bank that it could unload as statewide elections loom. Open Road Path — a nonprofit run by a lawyer and lobbyist […]