COLUMBUS — The chairman of the JobsOhio board is set to be deposed this week in a federal civil lawsuit against Akron-based FirstEnergy, the utility at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in Ohio history.
Josh Rubin, who chairs the board of the state’s private economic development corporation, will be questioned on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 ahead of a federal civil trial in which FirstEnergy is the defendant, according to court records.
In the lawsuit, state pension systems and other investors accuse FirstEnergy of failing to tell them about what they describe as “an illicit campaign to corrupt high-profile state legislators in order to secure legislation favoring the company.”
The scheme revolved around a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout for the utility. In 2018 and 2019, a financially struggling FirstEnergy funneled more than $60 million through dark-money nonprofit groups to pass and protect the bailout legislation.
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who championed the bailout, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for his role in the scheme. After a hung jury, FirstEnergy’s former top executives are facing a second state criminal trial over their involvement.
Rubin served as an advisor to the executives before formally signing on as a lobbyist. He and JobsOhio did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the upcoming deposition.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bailout into law and briefly defended it as good policy even after the FBI began making arrests in 2020. His administration had numerous connections to FirstEnergy and the legislation.