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Feds agree to delay collection of first installment of ComEd’s fine in face of lawsuit

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Illinois

* Background is here if you need it. Here’s Dan Mihalopoulos…

Commonwealth Edison got a temporary reprieve from its due date to pay the first installment of a $200 million fine in a federal corruption case Monday.

The delay came after a Chicago lawyer argued ComEd — which is supposed to pay the fine to the U.S. treasury — should instead pay back electricity-delivery customers who were victims of the power company’s long-running Springfield bribery scheme. […]

In a court hearing Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amar Bhachu defended prosecutors’ deal with the power company and opposed any effort to divert fine money from the federal treasury in order to pay ComEd’s customers.

“This motion is completely without merit,” Bhachu said in the hearing before U.S. District Judge John Kness.

But Bhachu said Monday the government would take action to “maintain the status quo,” suggesting that no money would go into the federal treasury before Kness rules on Stewart’s motion.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 9:31 am

Comments

Just like the University of Illinois admissions scandal, people at ComEd have lost their job, but the state legislators that initiated the activity, move happily along.

Comment by Interesting Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 9:57 am
Hmmm. So after a lot of arm waaving at a presser, the company pleads “not guilty” and no money gets paid. Seems a little shakey. And we all know the Trump group at DOJ never do anything shakey

Comment by LarryLightsOut Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 10:07 am
“So after a lot of arm waaving at a presser, the company pleads “not guilty” and no money gets paid.”

That’s not what’s happening here. The motion is to stop the money from being paid to the Federal government and instead have the money paid in some form to benefit the people who were harmed.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 11:00 am
Pay it to the court and then decide what to do with it. Get the money from Com Ed now or make them pay interest on it

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 11:18 am
These monies seem to be passed around…circularly.

Pay…back.

Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 11:36 am
since rates went down and reliability got better…the showing of harm could be tricky…but heck the Trump DOJ thinks Mike Flynn is a victim “

Comment by LarryLightsOut Wednesday, Aug 19, 20 @ 1:40 pm