FirstEnergy tells shareholders it is focused on ethics, integrity [View all]

In carefully scripted messages, top executives at FirstEnergy Corp. on Tuesday reassured shareholders that the Akron-based utility is hyper focused on ethics and that the company is still cooperating with multiple investigations.

"We believe a successful future requires a transformation in our company's culture of compliance. Building a strong compliance program and strengthening our commitment to ethics and integrity are key to the transformational effort," said FirstEnergy Chief Executive Steve Strah.

In July, FBI agents arrested then-Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and four other men in what prosecutors call the biggest bribery scheme in state history. The case centers on more than $60 million funneled through dark money groups to put Householder in power and then pass and defend a $1.3 billion bailout bill for FirstEnergy and other Ohio utilities.

Strah noted that the company is in talks with the U.S. Department of Justice for a deal, which would allow FirstEnergy to avoid criminal prosecution in the case.

Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/05/18/firstenergy-says-its-focused-ethics-wake-corruption-case/5137260001/

I believe that the ship has set sail already.