Donald Watkins' filing of a RICO complaint might have changed the script as Alabama Power and Southern Company wrestle with scandals tied to Matrix LLC

 

Donald Watkins' filing of a criminal RICO complaint, which we spotlighted in a post on Sunday (1/29/23), likely accomplishes two key objectives as the longtime attorney and entrepreneur seeks justice in the evolving Alabama Power/Southern Company/Matrix LLC scandal, according to a report this morning at banbalch.com, which operates under the banner of the CDLU public charity and advocacy group.

One, the Watkins filing, along with other documents known to have been filed with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC),  helps confirm that a federal investigation is moving forward. Two, the Watkins filing might throw a wrench into plans of Southern Company and related entities to pursue what is called a "deferred or non-prosecution agreement" with the U.S. Department of Justice. K.B. Forbes, CEO of the CDLU, explains in a post titled "Southern Company Knocked Against the Ropes: Federal Probe Confirmed as Criminal RICO Complaint Lodged:

As we wrote last Thursday, both Southern Company and Florida Power and Light (FPL) appear to be preparing to negotiate “deferred prosecution agreements” with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But Southern Company has been knocked against the ropes according to a bombshell post on news blog DonaldWatkins.com.

Forbes reports that civil RICO lawsuits are expected to be filed in roughly two months.

The central document at the moment is called a Form 8-K, which is filed with the SEC. Watkins describes the importance of the Form 8-K, in both his report on the RICO filing at his Web site -- and in our Sunday post about the filing.

This is where activities in Florida enter the picture,  From our Sunday report:

The Watkins complaint was filed two days after NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.”

The violations of law referenced in this Form 8-K stem from the clandestine “dirty tricks” work Joe Perkins' Matrix, LLC, performed for these Florida companies. Some of this work is described in a December 22, 2022 article I published titled, “Joe Perkins and Matrix in Deep Trouble” and a December 19, 2022 article National Public Radio published titled, “In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics.”

Why is the Form 8-K important? It already has changed the script in Florida, Forbes reports, and soon could do the same in Alabama. 

As we wrote last Thursday, both Southern Company and Florida Power and Light (FPL) appear to be preparing to negotiate “deferred prosecution agreements” with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But Southern Company has been knocked against the ropes according to a bombshell post on news blog DonaldWatkins.com.. . . 

On January 25, 2023, NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.”

The Form 8-K stated that “FPL’s and NEE’s business and reputation could be adversely affected by allegations that FPL or NEE has violated laws, by any investigations or proceedings that arise from such allegations, or by ultimate determinations of legal violations.”

The violations of law referenced in the 8-K stem from the clandestine “dirty tricks” work Joe Perkins’ Matrix, LLC, performed for these companies.

On the same day of NEE’s Form 8-K filing, chief executive officer Eric Silagy was ousted as CEO of FPL.

In November 2022, the Southern Company ousted Mark Crosswhite as Alabama Power’s chief executive officer, effective on December 31, 2022.

 * * *

Watkins provides more insights into the Form 8-K and its possible repercussions in Alabama:

Southern Company has not issued a Form 8-K filing yet, but may do so after an internal investigation by the Atlanta-based King & Spalding LLP law firm,  centering on Matrix’s “dirty tricks” work for Southern Company and Alabama Power, is completed.

As is the case with NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light (FPL), I expect to see several top Alabama Power and Southern Company executives indicted, as well.

 

I do not expect that Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning will be indicted. Fanning was a victim of one of Matrix's “dirty tricks” schemes that were designed to pressure him into resigning so that Mark Crosswhite could take his place as CEO of Southern Company. Fortunately, this ill-conceived scheme failed.

 

Criminal lawyers in Birmingham are already getting calls from Alabama Power executives who believe they have criminal exposure in this RICO case.

As for the deferred prosecution agreements, Watkins adds this:

It appears that Southern Company and Alabama Power are seeking what is called a “deferred or non-prosecution agreement” from the U.S. Department of Justice. If granted, these entities will not be prosecuted, but their former executives may well be charged.

Under Title 9-28.000 of the Department’s Justice Manual, this relief may be available to Southern Company and Alabama Power if they take certain actions that aid the Department’s investigation. Generally, these actions include: (a) ousting all persons responsible for the violations of law from the company, (b) conducting an internal investigation, (c) refraining from impeding the Department’s investigation by hiring or paying for lawyers for the wrongdoers, (d) voluntarily disclosing the results of the internal investigation to prosecutors, and (e) making restitution to the crime victims adversely impacted by the criminal conduct disclosed by the federal probe.

 

Matrix is not expected to be offered a deferred or non-prosecution agreement under any circumstance. The company’s “dirty tricks” work has: (a) soiled the reputations of two New York Stock Exchange companies, as well as their wholly-owned affiliates, (b) placed these publicly-traded companies under a multi-state federal investigation at the same time, and (c) may expose these companies to billions of dollars in lost value on the Stock Exchange as the scandal unfolds in the national and international media in the coming weeks.