2 Duke Ex-Execs Plead Not Guilty
Two former executives and a former energy trader for Duke Energy Corp.’s trading unit pleaded not guilty to charges of using bogus trades to inflate profit and secure higher bonuses for themselves.
Former vice presidents Timothy Kramer, 40, and Todd Reid, 41, and former energy trader Brian Lavielle, 33, were taken into custody and released on bonds of $100,000 each. They entered their pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson in Houston.
The men were charged with racketeering conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, money laundering and falsifying corporate books. The alleged scheme was intended to make it appear on the company’s books that millions of dollars in profit was generated, officials said.
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