Three men pleaded innocent in ESM case.

The president, chairman and auditor of ESM Government Securities, whose collapse led to the Ohio savings and loan crisis, have pleaded innocent to charges that they forged the will of a former company partner. Prosecutors said the men traced the signature of deceased ESM partner Alan Novick on a will drawn up after his death. According to court records, the estate is estimated at more than $1 million. Entering innocent pleas were Nicholas B. Wallace, who was president of ESM when the SEC shut it down March 4 after auditors found that it owed investors $320 million, and former Chairman Ronnie R. Ewton. Also pleading innocent was Jose Gomez, a former managing partner with the Chicago-based accounting firm of Alexander Grant & Co.