Former Westar Exec gets big payday: Kansans get screwed

I wrote here before about how the two executives at Westar, over in Topeka, cleaned house, money-wise, over there and took such gross advantage of both the company and their customers.

Now, further proof positive that crime does pay.

At least it does if it's white collar crime:

Former Westar exec Lake to receive $21 million

A former executive at the largest electrical utility in Kansas will receive more than $26 million in compensation and attorney fees in a settlement reached at arbitration.

Under the settlement announced Friday, Douglas Lake will receive $21 million in unpaid compensation and $5.3 million in attorney fees.

Lake was the former top strategy officer at Topeka-based Westar Energy. He and former CEO David Wittig were forced out in 2002 and indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003 on charges they conspired to inflate their compensation.

A first trial ended in a hung jury in 2004. They were convicted in a second trial in 2005, but an appeals court in Denver threw out the convictions.

They were awaiting a third trial when charges against them were dismissed last August.

For a refresher course on these 2 clowns and their thievery, go here:

Mo Rage: Great NYT article on "The Enron of Kansas" or "The ...

And/or here:

Mo Rage: The Fleecing of Westar (and Kansas): 1, 2, 3, Part II 

So let that be a lesson to us all.

If you're going to steal, go big or don't go at all.

Link: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/14/2874918/former-westar-exec-lake-to-receive.html

The Fleecing of Westar (and Kansas): 1, 2, 3, Part II

News from a front page article in The Kansas City Star today tells "After nearly eight years and two trials, federal prosecutors on Friday dismissed all charges against former Westar Energy executives David Wittig and Douglas Lake." I was stunned. Holy cow. These two all but knocked down your Grandmother, raped her and stole her money and here they are, getting off, scott-free. Truly, who says crime doesn't pay? And why do I say this? As you may have read here on an earlier post, look at just a short, abbreviated list of what these two did while at Westar, as shown by The New York Times: “During Wittig’s brief tenure with the company he managed to extract more than $25,000,000 in compensation and benefits,” the indictment read. “During Lake’s brief tenure with the Company he managed to extract more than $7,000,000 in compensation and benefits. During this same tenure Wittig and Lake presided over a company whose stock prices went from $44.00 per share to less than $9.00 per share, whose [energy] rates soared, whose debt increased to more than $3,000,000,000, and whose future was poised on the brink of bankruptcy.” Again, keep in mind, this is only a partial list. So, folks, if you're a Kansas electric rate-payer or a Westar stock owner from this time frame, the fact is, you just got screwed. And you got screwed big time. For all the rest of us who are simply law-abiding citizens, well, forget about all that. Crime does pay, ladies and gentlemen. Just make sure, when you do it, you go after HUGE amounts at the top of a corporation--not that little stuff you get holding up a Quickie Mart. Try to have a great weekend, y'all. Link to original posts: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/20/2164274/charges-against-former-westar.html http://moravings.blogspot.com/2010/07/great-nyt-article-on-enron-of-kansas-or.html http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/what-happened-at-the-enron-of-kansas/?hp

Great NYT article on "The Enron of Kansas" or "The Fleecing of Westar, 1, 2, 3"

Just what it says--there is a terrific article at the NY Times site right now on Westar and the scandal that it became when David Wittig and Douglas Lake fleeced that company, right close by in our own Topeka, Kansas. Some of what these two thieving clowns did and a bit of the article: “During Wittig’s brief tenure with the company he managed to extract more than $25,000,000 in compensation and benefits,” the indictment read. “During Lake’s brief tenure with the Company he managed to extract more than $7,000,000 in compensation and benefits. During this same tenure Wittig and Lake presided over a company whose stock prices went from $44.00 per share to less than $9.00 per share, whose [energy] rates soared, whose debt increased to more than $3,000,000,000, and whose future was poised on the brink of bankruptcy.” It hints at the question I'd like to ask: Whatever happened to justice and "right and wrong" in this country? We know the answer, of course. They are whatever money says they are. We've created "the best Justice system money can buy." Have a great weekend, y'all. Link to original article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/what-happened-at-the-enron-of-kansas/?hp