Kilgore's Money Men: H. Eugene Lockhart

Prior to giving $25,000 to Kilgore last month, H. Eugene Lockhart , an investment banker/venture capitalist from Greenwich, CT, had never donated to a Virginia political candidate, according to Virginia Public Access Project data.  Now, apparently, Mr. Lockhart is getting active here in Virginia.

To say that Mr. Lockhart is a busy man is an understatement; he is on the Board of Directors of the following companies:

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp
Radioshack Corp.
IMS Health, Inc.
Nabisco Group Holdings Corporation

In addition, Lockhart has been:

President and CEO of MasterCard International,
President of the Global Retail Bank
Senior Vice Chairman of BankAmerica Corporation
President of Consumer Services at AT&T
President and Chief Executive Officer of New Power Holdings

Does the name New Power Holding sounds oddly familiar?  If you guessed that New Power Holdings was founded back in 1999 by Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay of Enron fame, you would be correct!  According to a class action complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District (New York) in April 2002:

NewPower is a nationwide provider of electrical power and natural gas to small retail consumers. It was formed by Enron in 1999, and Enron remains its controlling shareholder. NewPowers top officers and directors are primarily persons closely affiliated with Enron, or who were handpicked by Enron.

In the suit, H. Eugene Lockhart was named as a Defendant alongside none other than -- guess who? -- Ken Lay!  (Case File)

Like Enron, NewPower engaged in a pattern of misleadingly described policies and transactions throughout the Class Period which served to mask the true nature of NewPower's business, and its financial condition. Many of the misrepresented or omitted facts could have been ascertained by NewPower's directors, and by the underwriters of NewPower's October 5, 2000 initial public offering...through the exercise of reasonable due diligence. These directors and underwriters--all of whom are named as defendants herein--failed to exercise reasonable due diligence, in accordance with their statutory duty under Section 11 of the Securities Act.

This suit was later settled by creating a fund in the amount of $26 million. (Settlement Notice)

Another Class Action was filed against H. Eugene Lockhart in 2000, while he was with Nabisco. (Case File) , over the same allegations.

All this raises the question:  Why would someone with such a shady history, with such strong ties to the notorious Enron and Ken Lay, give Jerry Kilgore money?  And why is this becoming such a pattern (Koch Industries, King Pharmaceuticals, with so many of Jerry Kilgore's out-of-state donors having sordid, criminal pasts?

As a great Virginian and American, George Washington, once said, ?Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.

Perhaps Jerry Kilgore cares more about his campaign contributors and about getting elected than he cares about his reputation?  Well then, perhaps we should judge Jerry Kilgore by the "quality"  of the men with whom he associates, as George Washington suggests.

To be continued...

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