From the Topeka Capitol Journal:
<snip>
A federal grand jury has indicted two former Westar Energy executives on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, falsifying books and misleading investors in the Topeka-based company, federal officials announced this morning.
The grand jury returned the 40-count indictment late Wednesday against former Westar chief executive officer David Wittig, 48, of Topeka, and former executive vice president Douglas Lake, 53, of New Canaan, Conn.<snip>
On July 14, following a nearly two-week trial, a jury found that Wittig conspired with former Capital City Bank president Del Weidner to hide a $1.5 million loan from federal regulators. The $1.5 million was then moved by wire transfer to Weidner, who invested the money in a real estate deal near Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wittig was convicted of conspiracy, four counts of filing false bank entries and money laundering. Weidner was convicted of conspiracy, two counts of filing false bank entries and money laundering. Weidner pleaded guilty to two other counts of filing false bank documents on the trial's first day. http://www.cjonline.com/stories/120403/bre_westar.shtmlGoogle “David Wittig” and “George W. Bush” and find lots of information on
Tom DeLay:
<snip>
Critics believe that Mr. DeLay's involvement in the state elections was unprecedented, and they question the intent
of some of his backers, such as the Westar Energy.
As congressional negotiators fashioned an energy bill last year, Westar executives wanted to free the company
from certain regulations and devised a plan to get a "a strong position at the table" by dedicating $ 55,000 for political
donations, according to internal company e-mails that have become public in recent weeks.
Mr. DeLay and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, received donations. They said they did nothing wrong and made no
promises to Westar, regardless of the company's expectations about access or favorable treatment.
Mr. Barton introduced a provision that could have saved the company billions of dollars but dropped his support
when a grand jury began investigating former Westar CEO David Wittig, who was indicted on charges unrelated to
campaign fund-raising.
Texans PAC records on file with the IRS indicate that Westar gave the donation a few weeks before several Westar
executives attended a two-day retreat and "energy roundtable" with Mr. DeLay at a mountain resort in Virginia.
DeLay aides say the majority leader did not solicit the donation. He met with Westar representatives last
September to discuss the company's problem, which involved tax treatment for utility holding companies.
Mr. Lewis said the Westar contribution to a state committee indicates Mr. DeLay's level of involvement.
"The bottom line is that Tom DeLay and his aides and his affiliated PACs took a tremendous interest in Texas and
used their influence to produce a lot of money to elect House Republican members," Mr. Lewis said.
"I've never seen a politician on the federal level, whether a senator or representative or anybody else, get this
involved in raising money and trying to influence who's going to be a member of the state House."
E-mail choppe@dallasnews.com; tgillman@dallasnews.com http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:LxLyEKRd6Z8J:www.citizen.org/documents/TRMPAC_Complaint_FINAL.pdf+%22david+wittig%22+lake+%22george+w+bush%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8I hope they nail these bastards, but GOOD! :mad:
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