Yesterday, this news outlet provided extensive coverage of the first criminal confession agreement reached in connection with NukeGate – the South Carolina state command economic experiment has failed spectacularly in the nuclear power sector.
As we reported, Stephen Byrne – the former executive vice president of the now defunct SCANA – agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire transfer fraud in connection with this scandal. This crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000. Byrne also agreed to cooperate with investigators as they pursue other targets in this extensive multi-year investigation.
Our hope? That the target list is extremely long …
For those who need an update on this disaster, here it is: State legislators – led by the senator Luke Rankin – public service allowed Santee Cooper accumulating billions of dollars in debt on the sloppy construction of two abandoned nuclear reactors in Jenkinsville, SC. In addition, lawmakers have socialized more than $ 2 billion investment risk related to the project for the former Byrne company.
All said, $ 10 billion was spent on the two reactors – which should have started operating in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Yes … not only that not happen, but executives at both companies knew in 2016 (and perhaps earlier) that the project was doomed and supposedly hid that critical information from regulators (and the public) while continuing to raise rates and accumulate additional debt.
Santee Cooper, for example, lied openly about bail documents … and tried to raise his clients’ fees just a week before shutting down the project.
To date, no Santee Cooper executive has entered into guilty plea agreements or been criminally charged in connection with the NukeGate case … and the documents filed on Monday in federal court by prosecutors with the US Public Prosecutor’s Office. Peter McCoy it seemed to be focused exclusively on SCANA executives.
We will see if the investigation expands in the future …
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RELATED || NukeGate: First penal settlement reached
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In the meantime, we are publishing all documents referenced in our story yesterday about this case …
The first document (.pdf) that we are publishing is the pledge agreement between the federal government and Byrne, which describes the specific charge he is agreeing to plead, as well as the conditions that apply to his defense. A judge has yet to accept this – while Byrne has yet to fulfill his promise to cooperate with prosecutors in the future.
If he doesn’t, the deal will be canceled.
The next document (.pdf) provides basic information about Byrne’s plea bargain – including a narrative of the actions that led to the investigation.
The third document is a motion to suspend a civil complaint filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February, which prosecutors argue “is necessary to protect the interests of the United States in relation to the ongoing criminal investigation and to prevent use of the civil discovery process in ways that could jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation. ”
Here are all the documents …
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COURT ARCHIVES
Byrne-Plea-Cooperation-Agreement-Attachment
Byrne-Information
Stay-Motion
-FITSNews
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