Ex-executives at Kansas utility charged with 'looting' company

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Capping an investigation that stretched more than a year, federal prosecutors are accusing two former executives of Westar Energy Inc. with looting the Kansas utility to finance lavish personal spending.
Former CEO David C. Wittig and former chief strategic officer Douglas T. Lake each face 40 counts in a federal indictment released Thursday. They are accused of trying to "systematically loot" the company, the largest electric utility in Kansas.
The indictment charged that Wittig, 48, plundered millions of dollars from the company to renovate his Topeka mansion and to buy a Ferrari while the firm's debt soared to $3 billion and its stock dropped from a high of $44 to $9 a share.
Wittig, of Topeka, resigned as CEO in November 2002. He was convicted in July of federal fraud charges unrelated to Westar business. Lake, 53, of New Canaan, Conn., has been on administrative leave from Westar for the last year.