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FirstEnergy fights to keep records tied to bribery scheme from the public
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 […]
Judge orders unfreezing of assets of regulator accused of taking bribe
An appellate judge ordered Wednesday that the government must unfreeze the millions of dollars in bank accounts of Sam Randazzo, a former state utility regulator who was implicated in a public corruption scandal. Last summer, a civil suit led by Attorney General Dave Yost won a judgement freezing up to $8 million from several accounts […]
Utility regulators freeze investigations into FirstEnergy bribes
Ohio’s utility regulators froze investigations Wednesday into a massive bribery campaign from FirstEnergy Corp. that implicated their former chairman, stating they did so to defer to a parallel criminal investigation. By unanimous vote, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio paused its four investigations into FirstEnergy’s conduct. The move came at the request of Kenneth Parker, […]
DOJ asks regulators to back off investigation into FirstEnergy bribery case
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 […]
Utility regulator accused of taking a bribe helped write bill targeting watchdog
Ohio’s former top utility regulator, who was accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe, quietly spent months helping write a sweeping energy bill that targeted a state watchdog agency that advocates for Ohio’s residential electric customers, records show. Emails that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio gave in response to two FBI subpoenas show its […]
‘Look beyond our age:’ Three Democratic teenagers run for Ohio House
Sam Cao worked out a plan with his principal and superintendent. They had to figure out how Cao could potentially balance constituent work in the Ohio House of Representatives with classwork at Mason High School. At Miami University, Sam Lawrence mulled a similar plan for his upcoming sophomore year. Ohio University’s Rhyan Goodman is likely […]
Judge rejects bid to settle FirstEnergy bribery suit with shareholders elsewhere
A federal judge in Akron has refused to dismiss a lawsuit between FirstEnergy Corp. — which has admitted that it bribed two top Ohio politicians with $64 million — and some of its shareholders. U.S. District Judge John R. Adams denied a motion Tuesday, filed jointly by the company and its investors, asking him to […]
FirstEnergy deposition looms in shareholder lawsuit for bribery, misleading investors
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 […]
Former DeWine aide warned governor about utility regulator before the FBI raided his home
More than two years before FirstEnergy Corp. admitted to paying Ohio’s top utility regulator a $4.3 million bribe, Mike DeWine’s former campaign treasurer warned senior aides to the new governor about the eventual nominee’s “opaque and undisclosed” financial ties to the company. The warning came in a 198-page dossier alleging Sam Randazzo — a lawyer […]
Judge gives lawyers 24 hours to identify FirstEnergy execs who ordered political bribes
Further scuttling a proposed settlement for FirstEnergy’s shareholders, a federal judge demanded their lawyers, within 24 hours, answer his question about which company officials ordered what has been described as the largest political bribery scheme in Ohio history. Both FirstEnergy and its shareholders were on the cusp of a settling the shareholders’ derivative lawsuit, announcing […]
Both FirstEnergy and its shareholders seek secrecy around company’s bribes
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. […]
Who paid the bribes? Judge demands answers in FirstEnergy shareholders’ suit
About seven months ago, FirstEnergy, as a company, admitted to federal law enforcement to paying out two, multimillion dollar sets of bribes: one to the former speaker of the Ohio House and one to the state’s top utility regulator. U.S. District Judge John A. Adams — in a hearing Wednesday and a related order Friday […]