South Carolina - Absorbed by Dominion Energy, SCANA’s downfall is the most costly business failure in state history.
Former Scana Corp. executive Stephen Byrne pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with a $10 billion nuclear power project that the South Carolina gas and electric utility abandoned amid soaring costs and construction delays.
Byrne, who served as executive vice president at Scana, entered his plea Thursday in federal court in South Carolina after reaching a deal with prosecutors last month. He could face as long as five years in prison.
According to a statement by prosecutors, the deal requires that Byrne cooperate with the government. Dominion Energy, which acquired Scana in 2018, has agreed to provide at least $4 billion in rate relief to South Carolina customers over an unspecified length of time, the U.S. said.
Lawyers for Byrne declined to comment.
“Dominion Energy continues to cooperate fully with state and federal authorities in this ongoing investigation, pursuant to the terms of the cooperation agreement,” the company said in a statement. “We have no further comment regarding this matter or the investigation.”
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The exultation of civic and environmental movements
$11+ Billion Nuclear Reactor Construction Debacle
Proportions of the scandal are of such a level and with such huge financial implications that the American information system has already triggered its immune barriers on the internet: many news are in fact not reachable by those wishing to investigate from Europe:
phillytrib.com
- Scandals spark bailout meltdown in Ohio and fraud trial in South Carolina. Protesters blocks from leaving the federal courthouse:
It is not the first time that certain informations, despite being indexed in google, are obscured for reasons far from clear. RNA has verified that, often, from the same source the "legal technician" message... appears only on certain news items, almost always on nuclear matters.
This time the news is available on many different sources - Read more:
The State:
Top ex-SCANA official Stephen Byrne pleads guilty in SC nuclear fiasco fraud case
Stephen Byrne, a top executive of the now-defunct SCANA electric utility, pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal conspiracy fraud charges in federal court in Columbia.
Byrne’s guilty plea showed that SCANA’s downfall — triggered by a failed $9 billion effort to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County — was the result of not just mismanagement or incompetence, but criminal conduct at the company’s highest levels.
SCANA, a Fortune 500 publicly traded company whose business lineage traced back to 1846, was one of the crown jewels of South Carolina’s economy. But the failure of its effort to build two nuclear reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville led to multiple lawsuits and mounting financial troubles. Eventually the company was absorbed by Dominion Energy. SCANA’s downfall is perhaps the most costly business failure in state history.
Byrne was part of a conspiracy that engineered a “cover-up” to hide the extent of the publicly traded company’s financial problems caused by the nuclear project’s difficulties, according to charging documents in his case. “Through intentional misrepresentations,” Byrne and others deceived regulators and customers, documents said.
Byrne, 60, who appeared with his lawyers, Jim Griffin and Maggie Fox of Columbia, said little during Thursday’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Mary Lewis. He will be sentenced at a later date and, as part of a plea bargain, could testify against any alleged co-conspirators.
Lewis asked if Byrne understood that “when you plead guilty, you admit the truth of the charges against you?”
Byrne replied, “I do.”
However, Byrne will be sentenced last of all — a stipulation that indicates he is a key witness who potentially will testify against other SCANA executives against whom charges may be brought.
Byrne, a former Irmo resident who lives in Mt. Pleasant, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. He also faces restitution up to approximately $1 million. However, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lighter sentence if his testimony against other conspirators proves helpful.
Following the guilty plea hearing, Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges gave Byrne a $25,000 unsecured bond, which means he doesn’t have to put up any money and can remain free until his sentencing. Byrne, who was born in England near Liverpool but grew up in Michigan, can leave the state and the country but only with permission. He is surrendering his passport as a condition of bond.
Byrne’s bond is low and unsecured because he has been cooperating with investigators for more than a year, is married with three grown children and has extensive ties to South Carolina and a clean record.
Read more on the original Source - Here
Sweet Victory for Citizens & Patriots! Nuclear Official in South Carolina Pleads Guilty to Felony in $11+ Billion Nuclear Reactor Construction Debacle
Read more here: “Top ex-SCANA official Stephen Byrne pleads guilty in SC nuclear fiasco fraud case”
and here: SCE&G Official to Plead Guilty to Felony in Nuclear Reactor Construction Debacle, Federal Court in Columbia, SC, July 23, 2020
Ex-utility exec pleads guilty to $1B fraud in South Carolina
Nearly three years after leading a failed project to build two nuclear reactors in South Carolina, an executive in charge of the construction pleaded guilty Thursday to taking more than $1 billion from the pockets of ratepayers and investors.
Former SCANA Corp. Executive Vice President Stephen Byrne said little beyond answering the judge's yes or no questions as he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Byrne agreed to tell investigators everything he knows about the lies and deception SCANA and its subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas used to keep regulators approving rate increases and investors to keep supporting the reactors.
Read more on the original Source: www.bastillepost.com
