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A criminal investigation into an alleged bribe to secure a bailout of troubled nuclear plants in Ohio is looking at the energy company that prosecutors say supplied some of the money and now owns the facilities, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Energy Harbor Corp., asking executives to turn over documents and communications as part of an investigation into whether anyone associated with the company understood that payments made by it were part of an alleged pay-to-play arrangement, rather than a legal lobbying effort, the people said. Energy Harbor and its former parent company, Ohio utility FirstEnergy Corp., paid millions of dollars to an entity that former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder allegedly used to fund support for the $1.5 billion bailout, which involves state subsidy payments to aid the nuclear plants, according to an FBI affidavit. FirstEnergy, which previously disclosed it had been subpoenaed, faces similar questions as Energy Harbor on what it knew about the money paid. Householder was charged with racketeering in July. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio accused him and four associates of taking $60 million in bribes between 2017 and 2020. Mr. Householder allegedly used the money to secure the bailout, fund his campaign for Ohio House speaker and quash an effort to repeal the law that included the subsidy, the affidavit said. Householder has pleaded not guilty. The nuclear plants are now owned by Energy Harbor, a former FirstEnergy subsidiary that was spun off and renamed after filing for bankruptcy protection in 2018. The company emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year with its assets partly subsidized by Ohio utility customers, who will annually contribute about $150 million to the company for seven years.

The former musical director of “The Arsenio Hall Show” was sentenced today to 27 months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $1 million from a charity concert intended to raise money for children made homeless by wars, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Robin DiMaggio was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who described his actions as “a despicable crime of sheer greed.” Judge Gee also ordered DiMaggio to serve one year of home confinement once he has finished serving his prison sentence. A restitution hearing in this case will be scheduled in the coming months. During the summer of 2016, DiMaggio promised to help the Bulgaria-based nonprofit organization Peace for You Peace for Me Foundation organize a concert in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The concert was intended to raise money to help children who lost their homes because of global conflicts. DiMaggio, a professional drummer who also had served as a musical director for the United Nations, offered to get world-famous musicians and celebrities to perform at the concert, and he claimed to need money to book these artists. Relying on these promises, the foundation’s financial sponsor wired nearly $1 million to DiMaggio. Rather than use the money for the charity concert, DiMaggio instead used it to fund his personal lifestyle and pay his debts. Within weeks of the last wire transfer of $750,000, he used $251,370 of the funds to purchase a Calabasas home for his ex-wife. DiMaggio also bought his mother a $35,000 car and bought his son a $24,000 car. He also wired $150,000 of the funds to a bank account in the name of his company, DiMagic Entertainment Inc. None of the transfers was sent to artists or their management in connection with the charity concert in Bulgaria. DiMaggio also forged bank documents and deleted correspondence while this civil litigation was spending, and he ultimately filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. In his September 2017 bankruptcy filing, DiMaggio made false statements that he had not made alimony payments or given any gifts worth more than $600 to any person in the prior two years.