SEC sues former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones as the ex-exec faces multiple criminal charges

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones on Thursday, alleging Jones misled investors about the utility's payments to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder in a pay-to-play scheme.

In 2023, Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading a $60 million bribery scandal to bail out two nuclear power plants in House Bill 6 and providing other favorable treatment to FirstEnergy. House Bill 6 was introduced and signed into law in 2019.

An SEC complaint filed in a federal district court on Thursday alleges that when Householder was indicted in 2020, Jones said "FirstEnergy acted ethically in this matter" and "transparently." But in 2021, FirstEnergy admitted to bribing Householder and Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

The complaint further alleges that Jones approved FirstEnergy's creation of a 501(c)(4) dark money group to allow money to travel undetected from the utility to Householder. The SEC also accuses Jones of misleading FirstEnergy's auditor by not disclosing those payments.

Meanwhile, Jones is facing criminal charges of bribery, telecommunications fraud, money laundering and theft.

The complaint states that FirstEnergy awarded Jones "cash and share-based compensation based on a performance-related incentive compensation program, including a cash bonus of about $1.6 million, which FirstEnergy paid him in 2019 for achieving certain near-term objectives. FirstEnergy also gave Jones performance-adjusted restricted stock units, valued at approximately $18.1 million, for a three-year period ending in 2019."

Attorneys for the SEC requested in the complaint that the court order Jones to pay civil penalties, as well as to order him "to disgorge the ill-gotten gains he received because of the violations here, including prejudgment interest."

Also on Thursday, FirstEnergy announced that it had reached a $100 million settlement agreement with the SEC to resolve the commission's investigation into the House Bill 6 scandal.

This is a developing story.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: SEC sues ex-FirstEnergy CEO, alleging misrepresentations, omissions