In separate hearings, former SCANA CEO expected to plead guilty to SC, federal crimes

Former SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh will appear in two separate court hearings in different parts of South Carolina on Wednesday where he is expected to plead guilty to federal and state crimes.

In an appearance that has been delayed for months, Marsh will face a federal charge at a 10 a.m. hearing in Federal Court in Columbia. That will be followed by a bond hearing at 10:30 a.m., according to Robert Kittle, a spokesperson for the office of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Later on Wednesday afternoon, Marsh will be at the Spartanburg County Courthouse to face a state crime, Kittle said. In the hearing scheduled for 2:30 p.m., Marsh is expected to plead guilty to the South Carolina charge of obtaining signature or property by false pretenses (value $10,000 or more).

The state and federal charges are the result of more than 3 years of investigation by South Carolina and national authorities into SCANA.

In his morning appearance, Marsh is expected to plead guilty to federal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Once one of South Carolina’s most prominent and well-paid executives, Marsh has agreed to go to prison for at least 18 months and forfeit $5 million in connection with SCANA’s $10 billion failed effort to build nuclear reactors in Fairfield County, according to papers filed in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina.

A charging document in the case states Marsh helped lead a two-year cover-up, from 2016 to 2018, of the serious financial trouble that was jeopardizing the success of the V.C. Summer nuclear project as well as the troubled financial health of SCANA.

In early 2019, SCANA became a fully owned subsidiary of Dominion Energy, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded electric utilities.

SCANA was a publicly traded gas and electric utility and the only Fortune 500 company in South Carolina. It had 700,000 electric customers and 350,000 natural gas customers.

Last July, Stephen Byrne, the number two top SCANA executive pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in SCANA’s downfall.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 12:44 PM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription

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John Monk

The State

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John Monk has covered courts, crime, politics, public corruption, the environment and other issues in the Carolinas for more than 40 years. A U.S. Army veteran who covered the 1989 American invasion of Panama, Monk is a former Washington correspondent for The Charlotte Observer. He has covered numerous death penalty trials, including those of the Charleston church killer, Dylann Roof, serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins and child killer Tim Jones. Monk’s hobbies include hiking, books, languages, music and a lot of other things.