A member of a consulting firm hired by JEA in 2019 testified during a pre-trial hearing that he did not draft the incentive plan that was proposed to the board.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Later this month, two former JEA executives, former CEO Aaron Zahn and former CFO Ryan Wannemacher, will go on trial after being accused of devising a plan that would sell JEA, Jacksonville’s municipal publicly owned utility, and in the process, line their pockets with tens of millions of dollars.
The plot to give themselves massive bonuses at the expense of selling JEA was apparently nearly a year in the making, and according to federal prosecutors, it involved doctoring documents of consulting firms that JEA executives hired.
Bombshell testimony was introduced in federal court by witnesses in the government’s case against Zahn and Wannemacher.
David Wathen works for the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, which was hired by JEA in 2019 to create a new long term incentives plan that included bonuses for executives.
“We’re leveraging some of the best minds in the business,” Zahn told the JEA board in a meeting on June 25, 2019 in which he referenced ways that JEA could grow in the future.
“I ask that you consider allowing us to look at our constraints and make charter changes to finalize a plan and bring it back to you in the future,” he continued.
The week before the meeting the board was presented with a plan that was said to be created by Willis Towers Watson that included a proposed executive pay increase as part of a plan to hire and retain quality employees for JEA.
In his testimony Wathen said that he created a draft of that plan in March of 2019 but never submitted it to the JEA board. He added that it’s rare for municipal utilities to have these types of plans because they’re publicly owned.
“As I’m hoping everyone in the community is starting to see, it does require the courage of the community to have the robust conversation of what they want their utility to be,” said Zahn.
During the June 2019 board meeting a plan with the Willis Towers Watson logo was presented to the board, but in federal court Wathen said that he didn’t make that plan and previously provided JEA with an editable PowerPoint document.
“The final plan is one that Willis Towers Watson would never propose nor endorse,” said Wathen on the witness stand.
If Zahn and Wannemacher are found guilty they could face up to 25 years in prison.
