COLUMBUS — A judge in Columbus has frozen $8 million in assets of the former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and current target of an FBI investigation to preserve the assets for future collection.
The freeze issued Thursday came at the request of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who says it would be harder to hold Sam Randazzo “financially accountable for accepting bribes” without it.
Randazzo resigned his post at the PUCO in November after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. revealed it had paid him $4.3 million in early 2019 for his future help as Ohio’s top utility regulator.
Yost says he was prompted to file the motion with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas to freeze Randazzo’s assets and prevent the future transfer or sale of personal property after Randazzo transferred a $500,000 home on W. Third Avenue to his son in February and sold four other properties worth a combined $4.8 million.
“Randazzo is making moves that will make it harder to hold him financially accountable for accepting bribes. As the federal investigation continues, we need to make sure that his assets are available for recovery when his time comes to pay,” Yost said in a statement issued by his office.
The freeze on Randazzo’s assets follows a move last week by Yost to expand his racketeering lawsuit stemming from the bribery scandal centered on First Energy and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.
Yost added Randazzo and former First Energy CEO Charles Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling as defendants.