In a PUCO hearing Friday, Ohioans got an inside glimpse of the largest bribery scandal in state history. Dennis Chack, a former FirstEnergy executive who previously pled the Fifth, took the stand to answer questions from attorneys representing consumers, manufacturers, and energy companies.

The Florida meeting

Chack described a meeting at former Ohio PUCO chairman Sam Randazzo’s Florida home in April 2019 with FirstEnergy’s then-CEO Chuck Jones and a handful of other executives including then-CFO Steve Strah and John Skory, who headed up a FirstEnergy subsidiary.

“There was discussion about House bill 6, discussion about the SEET (significantly excessive earnings) test and the discussion about DMR (distribution modernization rider),” Chack explained.

House bill 6 bailed out FirstEnergy nuclear and coal plants. Changes to the SEET test protected FirstEnergy from having to pay millions of dollars in refunds. And the Distribution Modernization Rider tacked a surcharge on Ohio ratepayer’s bills to pay for energy grid improvements. An audit later found FirstEnergy did little to track what it did with the money.

Pressed on whether the conversation turned to how Randazzo could influence the outcome of those issues, Chack begged ignorance.

“I don’t know if it did or it didn’t,” he said.

“Those discussions were brought up by Chuck,” Chack continued. “And he talked to Sam about each of those areas, and asked if there was help that Sam could provide in those areas.”

“And then when that was kind of concluding,” he said, “Chuck asked us — myself, John Skory and Steve — asked us to go outside, he wanted to talk to Sam in private.”

Chack said Jones and Randazzo spoke alone for about 10 minutes before coming back out.

After the House bill 6 scandal came to light, Jones was terminated along with Chack and FirstEnergy Vice President of External Affairs Michael Dowling.

Strah got a promotion, taking over as the company’s CEO.

The text messages

Chack received a text message from FirstEnergy CEO Jones, referenced in the company’s deferred prosecution agreement, that detailed the influence Randazzo had already exerted on the company’s behalf and explaining some in the PUCO wondered “does he work there or for us?”

On the stand, Chack attempted to downplay the exchange. He said the company was trying to get a license for brokerage, but it was proceeding slowly.

“It usually takes four to five weeks,” he said. “It had been months now, and we were starting to write contracts for it, and we did have a third-party backup if we needed it.”

So, Chack asked Jones, the company’s CEO, if he could check with Randazzo to “just see if this thing is going to pass or not? And if it is, is there any way that he can move it up a little bit?”

Chack said he had no inclination Jones could exert undue influence over Randazzo. He only assumed as CEO, Jones had a good enough relationship to get information. He depicted the text message as a simple explanation for the delay.

Rachael Guastella, an attorney with the Retail Energy Supply Association asked if Chack was aware PUCO commissioners are prohibited from speaking about open proceedings. Chack said he wasn’t, and claimed he never received ethics training on dealing with the commission.

She asked if Chack was at least aware that commissioners are the decision makers those cases. Chack again claimed he was not.

“If the commissioners were not the decision makers on such certification,” she asked, “Who did you assume were the decision makers?”

“I thought it was staff below that,” Chack said.

Chack’s firing

As the company’s vice president of product development, marketing and branding, Chack oversaw FirstEnergy’s advertising efforts. He explained his termination was tied to a contract with Tony George, a Cleveland businessman who sold billboard placements to FirstEnergy.

“When I was interviewed on that they asked me if the document was accurate and that my signature and date were accurate, and I said they were accurate,” Chack said. “I didn’t disclose it was back dated.”

George served as a go-between for FirstEnergy and former House Speaker Larry Householder. He also worked closely with Chack’s daughter who was starting up a company called DMA Consulting and curious about going into outdoor advertising. She emailed Chack a $44,000 a month advertising proposal mirroring contracts used by George.

In an internal memo from Nov. 2020, FirstEnergy officials point to the backdated contract Chack referenced and added he “may have had an immediate family member who worked at a vendor company that resulted in a conflict of interest.”

Despite his daughter sending in a contract proposal, Chack testified it was never executed, and the company never did business with her.

But Kim Bojko, an attorney for the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association, brought up a FirstEnergy presentation stating Chack signed off on payments to George-controlled companies that later funneled money to his daughter’s business. In all, FirstEnergy said, Chack’s daughter received more than $500,000.

Bojko walked Chack through several allegations laid out by the FirstEnergy board — that Chack deleted documents related to his daughter, that he produced a bogus, backdated contract to cover payments to George companies, and that two of those companies directed roughly half a million dollars to his daughter’s consulting company.

“That’s what it says here,” Chack answered repeatedly.

Boyko even pointed to 1099 tax forms. In 2019, George’s company Strategies for Results paid DMA Consulting $484,000 and and other George firm, Ohio Outdoor Advertising, paid DMA $44,000.

Calling back to that contract proposal Chack’s daughter submitted, Bojko asked, “this is the same contract that was for $44,000 a month or $2.6 million that we discussed earlier?”

“No,” Chack replied.

“This contract’s not the $44,000?” Boyko asked.

“It is, but it’s not for — it was never put in place,” he insisted.

• • •• • • 

This story is provided by Ohio Capital Journal, a part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit. See the original story here.