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Non-Tech : The Enron Scandal - Unmoderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (2858)	12/27/2003 10:22:34 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 3602

Three former executives plead guilty to fraud abclocal.go.com December 20, 2003 — Three former top executives of the defunct energy marketing firm Nicor Energy LLC who were accused of inflating earnings by as much as $6 million two years ago to earn bonuses have pleaded guilty to fraud charges. The executives are Kevin Stoffer, 45, of Naperville, former president and chief executive officer of Nicor Energy; Andrew Johnson, 43, of Elmhurst, former director of financial services; and John Fringer, 43, of Naperville, who headed the company's electric power business. They all pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges of inflating revenues and understating expenses at Nicor Energy, a joint venture of Naperville-based Nicor Inc. and Houston-based Dynegy Inc. U.S. District judge James Zagel set sentencing for Feb. 23, but indicated that the hearing could be delayed until after the trial of Michael Munson, Nicor Energy's former outside counsel, who is contesting the charges. When the three were indicted Dec. 10, prosecutors said they agreed to cooperate in the fraud investigation. They could testify against Munson. Stoffer, who pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, faces up to 31 months in prison, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven. Johnson and Fringer pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Each face up to two years in prison. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald contends Munson, 38, of Chicago helped to engineer the alleged fraud with an eye to getting more legal business from Nicor Energy and eventually landing a job as its general counsel. The essence of the fraud was that Nicor Energy cooked the books so the three executives could get bonuses and the lawyer could keep getting legal business, according to Fitzgerald. Nicor Inc. is a holding company whose major asset is Nicor Gas, which supplies natural gas to 2 million customers throughout the northern third of Illinois outside Chicago. Spokesman Don Ingle said last year the company had before-tax income of $186 million. Nicor Inc. invested about $15 million in Nicor Energy, which had 130,000 customers. (Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)