SEC Charges Exelon, its Subsidiary Commonwealth Edison, and Subsidiary’s Former CEO Anne Pramaggiore with Fraud in Connection with Political Corruption Scheme
summary
Exelon Corporation, its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Company, and former CEO Anne Pramaggiore were charged by the SEC with a multi-year scheme to bribe Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, resulting in over $150 million in benefits and a $46.2 million civil penalty.
paragraph
Exelon Corporation and its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) were charged by the SEC with a scheme to corruptly influence then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan from 2011 to 2019. ComEd made indirect payments totaling over $1.3 million to Madigan's associates through third-party vendors to conceal the scheme. Exelon agreed to pay a $46.2 million civil penalty and consent to a cease-and-desist order for violating antifraud and internal controls provisions.
narrative
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Exelon Corporation, its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore with a multi-year scheme to bribe Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. The scheme, which ran from 2011 to 2019, involved ComEd making indirect payments totaling over $1.3 million to Madigan's associates through third-party vendors to conceal the payments. Exelon and ComEd settled the charges, with Exelon agreeing to pay a $46.2 million civil penalty and consenting to a cease-and-desist order for violating antifraud and internal controls provisions. The scheme resulted in reasonably foreseeable benefits to ComEd of over $150 million through favorable legislation. Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore is separately charged with direct involvement in the scheme, including misleading investors, lying to auditors, and filing false certifications. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar against Pramaggiore. The case highlights systemic corruption and deliberate concealment of illicit lobbying activities disguised as legitimate business practices.
Classified public-corruption(confidence 100%). No EDGAR filing fingerprint (criminal/DOJ-side scheme). detection rule →
Parties
anne pramaggiorebribery schememadigan’s associatesmore than $1.3 million to madigan’s associatessec cease-and-desist orderSecurities and Exchange Commission
Keywords
comedsecexelonpramaggioreschemeexelon comedmadiganexelon subsidiarycommonwealth edisonsubsidiary formeranne pramaggiorepramaggiore fraudfraud connectionpolitical corruptioncorruption scheme
Exhibits & Attached Documents (1)
Extracted insights
Dollar amounts 3
- $150.00M $150 million $100M–$1B
- $46.20M $46.2 million $10M–$100M
- $1.30M $1.3 million $1M–$10M
Entities 6
- person anne pramaggiore
- person bribery scheme
- company madigan’s associates
- company more than $1.3 million to madigan’s associates
- agency sec cease-and-desist order
- agency Securities and Exchange Commission
Triples 10
- Securities And Exchange Commission Charged Exelon Corporation, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), And Anne Pramaggiore With Fraud
- Exelon And ComEd Agreed To Settle The Charges
- Exelon Paying Civil Penalty Of $46.2 Million
- ComEd Arranged Payments To Madigan’s Associates
- ComEd Made Indirect Payments More Than $1.3 Million To Madigan’s Associates
- ComEd Acknowledged Benefits Of More Than $150 Million
- Anne Pramaggiore Participated In Bribery Scheme
- Anne Pramaggiore Misled Investors
- Anne Pramaggiore Lied To Exelon’s Auditors
- Exelon And ComEd Consented To SEC Cease-And-Desist Order
PDF (from attached: pdf)
Text layers
Extracted body text (3,273c)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Exelon Corporation, electric utility company Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), which is Exelon’s subsidiary, and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore with fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to corruptly influence and reward then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan. Exelon and ComEd agreed to settle the charges, with Exelon paying a civil penalty of $46.2 million. The charges against Pramaggiore will be litigated. According to the SEC’s order against Exelon and ComEd, from 2011 through 2019, ComEd arranged for various associates of Madigan to obtain jobs, subcontracts, and monetary payments, all with the intent to influence Madigan regarding legislation favorable to ComEd. The order finds that ComEd arranged payments to Madigan’s associates through third-party vendors to conceal the size of the payments and to assist ComEd in denying responsibility for oversight of Madigan’s associates, who in some instances did little to none of the work for which they were hired. The order finds that ComEd made indirect payments totaling more than $1.3 million to Madigan’s associates. In a deferred prosecution agreement entered into with criminal authorities, ComEd acknowledged that Madigan’s support of legislation favoring ComEd resulted in reasonably foreseeable anticipated benefits to ComEd of more than $150 million. The SEC’s complaint against Pramaggiore alleges that she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme. The complaint alleges that Pramaggiore did not disclose the bribery scheme and instead misled investors when she characterized ComEd’s lobbying activities as legitimate. The complaint also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Pramaggiore lied to Exelon’s auditors and filed false certifications. “As alleged in our complaint, Pramaggiore’s remarks to investors about ComEd’s lobbying efforts hid the reality of the long-running political corruption scheme in which they were engaged,” said LeeAnn G. Gaunt, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Public Finance Abuse Unit. “When corporate executives speak to investors, they must not mislead by omission.” Exelon and ComEd consented to the SEC’s cease-and-desist order finding that they violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. Exelon agreed to pay a $46.2 million civil penalty. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Pramaggiore violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws and that she aided and abetted Exelon’s and ComEd’s violations of books and records and internal accounting controls provisions. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar against her. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Natalie Garner, Sally Hewitt, and Kristal Olson of the Public Finance Abuse Unit and Will Saylor of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office. The investigation was supervised by Brian Fagel. The SEC’s litigation will be conducted by Jonathan Polish. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
OCR text (3,273c · html-text · 99% conf)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Exelon Corporation, electric utility company Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), which is Exelon’s subsidiary, and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore with fraud in connection with a multi-year scheme to corruptly influence and reward then-Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan. Exelon and ComEd agreed to settle the charges, with Exelon paying a civil penalty of $46.2 million. The charges against Pramaggiore will be litigated. According to the SEC’s order against Exelon and ComEd, from 2011 through 2019, ComEd arranged for various associates of Madigan to obtain jobs, subcontracts, and monetary payments, all with the intent to influence Madigan regarding legislation favorable to ComEd. The order finds that ComEd arranged payments to Madigan’s associates through third-party vendors to conceal the size of the payments and to assist ComEd in denying responsibility for oversight of Madigan’s associates, who in some instances did little to none of the work for which they were hired. The order finds that ComEd made indirect payments totaling more than $1.3 million to Madigan’s associates. In a deferred prosecution agreement entered into with criminal authorities, ComEd acknowledged that Madigan’s support of legislation favoring ComEd resulted in reasonably foreseeable anticipated benefits to ComEd of more than $150 million. The SEC’s complaint against Pramaggiore alleges that she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme. The complaint alleges that Pramaggiore did not disclose the bribery scheme and instead misled investors when she characterized ComEd’s lobbying activities as legitimate. The complaint also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Pramaggiore lied to Exelon’s auditors and filed false certifications. “As alleged in our complaint, Pramaggiore’s remarks to investors about ComEd’s lobbying efforts hid the reality of the long-running political corruption scheme in which they were engaged,” said LeeAnn G. Gaunt, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Public Finance Abuse Unit. “When corporate executives speak to investors, they must not mislead by omission.” Exelon and ComEd consented to the SEC’s cease-and-desist order finding that they violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. Exelon agreed to pay a $46.2 million civil penalty. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Pramaggiore violated antifraud and books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws and that she aided and abetted Exelon’s and ComEd’s violations of books and records and internal accounting controls provisions. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar against her. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Natalie Garner, Sally Hewitt, and Kristal Olson of the Public Finance Abuse Unit and Will Saylor of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office. The investigation was supervised by Brian Fagel. The SEC’s litigation will be conducted by Jonathan Polish. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.