Former Siemens exec charged in Dominion bid-rigging case

A retired Siemens Energy executive is facing a felony charge in an alleged conspiracy to steal its competitor’s trade secrets, helping the German energy company prevail in a winning bid to build a gas turbine “peaker” plant in Chesterfield County for Dominion Energy in 2019.

John Gibson, of Winter Park, Florida, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond Division on Oct. 24 with one count of conspiracy to convert trade secrets, according to a charging document. His employer is referred to as “Company 1” in court filings, however, he is identified in a 2021 civil lawsuit filed in the same court by General Electric against Germany-based Siemens.

According to court documents, in May 2019, Siemens, GE and Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. submitted bids to provide and maintain gas turbine equipment for Dominion’s planned Chesterfield peaker plant, which was to run at times of high energy demand, in a deal valued up to as much as $340 million. Gibson is accused of conspiring with others from May 2019 and into June of that year to pass along confidential information about GE and Mitsubishi’s products and bids to other Siemens employees, with the help of Theodore Fasca, a former manager in Dominion’s generation system planning group, and Michael Hillen, who worked as an account manager in power generation for Siemens and was responsible for sales to Dominion Energy.

Fasca, of Richmond, and Hillen, of Midlothian, have previously pleaded guilty in the case.

As part of the scheme, Hillen and other employees at Siemens, including another unnamed person, sought to influence its winning bid by providing gifts, including hotel accommodations, dinners and football game tickets to Fasca and other Dominion employees during the bid process. Then, on or about May 30, 2019, Gibson allegedly authorized and gained approvals to resubmit a lower bid to Dominion, which ultimately awarded the project to Siemens.

Court documents note that Gibson did not financially benefit in the alleged scheme, and Dominion, GE and Mitsubishi are each named as victims. Gibson formerly worked as executive vice president of power generation and head of sales for North America for Siemens Energy, and retired in June 2020, according to his LinkedIn account. He did not respond to an interview request Friday and his attorney was not listed in available federal court records.

GE and Siemens settled the civil lawsuit in September 2021. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Siemens’ alleged theft impacted GE’s ability to compete “fairly,” Boston-based GE said in its complaint, and the Fortune 500 conglomerate lost eight projects to Siemens valued at more than $1 billion.

Dominion canceled plans for the Chesterfield plant in 2020. Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility, told Virginia Business that the conspiracy case was not connected to the plant’s cancelation. Dominion is now seeking to revive plans for the plant, known as the Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center, following a shift to more renewable energy, according to Virginia Mercury. Spain-based Siemens Gamesa, a subsidiary of the German company, is a partner in Dominion’s $9.8 billion, 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to receive federal approval during the week of Oct. 30.

“Dominion Energy takes very seriously its obligation to conduct prudent and compliant procurement practices, and we’ve cooperated fully with authorities in this case,” Ruby said in a statement. “Mr. Fasca is a former Dominion Energy employee, and the project that he was involved with did not go forward. Dominion Energy has never been accused of any wrongdoing in this case. This matter is completely unrelated to the proposed Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center.”

Fasca pleaded guilty in July to a single count of criminal information. He is scheduled for sentencing March 1, 2024. Hillen pleaded guilty to a count of criminal information on Sept. 26 and is scheduled for sentencing on April 11, 2024. Both face a maximum term of five years in prison, a fine and a maximum three-year term of supervised release.

Gibson’s initial appearance and bond hearing is set for Nov. 8 in Richmond.