3:19-Cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 1 of 210
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3:19-cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 1 of 210 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 98 Case No. 3:19-cv-3304 PENSION FUND on behalf of itself and all others similarly situated, CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT Plaintiffs, vs. DELOITTE & TOUCHE, LLP; DELOITTE LLP, Defendants. 3:19-cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 2 of 210 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................2 JURISDICTION AND VENUE.......................................................................................9 THE PARTIES ................................................................................................................9 A. Lead Plaintiff .......................................................................................................9 B. Defendants ......................................................................................................... 10 1. Deloitte & Touche, LLP ......................................................................... 10 2. Deloitte, LLP .......................................................................................... 10 C. Relevant Non-Parties ......................................................................................... 10 1. SCANA .................................................................................................. 10 2. Westinghouse Electric Company LLC .................................................... 12 3. Stone & Webster, Inc.............................................................................. 13 4. Toshiba Corporation ............................................................................... 13 5. South Carolina Public Service Authority ................................................ 13 6. The South Carolina Public Service Commission ..................................... 14 FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND SUBSTANTIVE ALLEGATIONS OF THE FRAUD ......................................................................................................................... 14 A. SCANA and its Nuclear Business ...................................................................... 14 1. The 2005 Energy Policy Act Creates Billions of Dollars of Tax Credits Available for Nuclear Construction Completed by January 2021 ....................................................................................................... 16 2. The BLRA Allows SCANA to Charge Increased Energy Rates to Recover “Prudent” Nuclear Project Construction Costs .......................... 17 3. SCANA Petitions to Build Two New Nuclear Reactors at the V.C. Summer Site ........................................................................................... 19 B. Financial Reporting and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles .................. 22 1. Explanation of Financial Statements ....................................................... 22 2. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ............................................. 24 C. The Role of the Independent External Auditor ................................................... 25 D. Deloitte’s Responsibilities as SCANA’s Auditor ................................................ 27 1. Deloitte was Responsible for Auditing SCANA’s Financial Statements and Determining Whether they Were in Compliance with GAAP ............................................................................................. 28 i 3:19-cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 3 of 210 2. Deloitte was Required to Respond to Information Demonstrating that SCANA’s Interim Financial Information Did Not Comply with GAAP .................................................................................................... 46 E. The Nuclear Project Consistently Suffers from Significant and Material Delays and Cost Overruns, Threatening SCANA’s Ability to Obtain $1.4 Billion in Nuclear Tax Credits ............................................................................ 47 1. From the Beginning, the Nuclear Project Suffers from Significant Delays .................................................................................................... 47 2. SCANA Petitions PSC for Approval of Revised Delayed Schedules ............................................................................................................... 53 3. Further Evidence Demonstrates that the Nuclear Project Would Not Be Complete in Time .............................................................................. 55 4. SCANA Elects the Fixed Price Option.................................................... 59 5. SCANA Retains Bechtel to Assess the Nuclear Project ........................... 61 6. The Bechtel Assessment and First Bechtel Report .................................. 62 7. The Second Bechtel Report .................................................................... 70 8. SCANA Files its 2015 Form 10-K and Deloitte Issues a Clean Audit Report .................................................................................................... 72 9. SCANA Rejects the Recommendations in the Bechtel Action Plan ......... 72 10. Cost Overruns and Schedule Delays Continue ........................................ 78 11. SCANA Establishes a Construction Oversight Review Board, which Echoes Bechtel’s Concerns ..................................................................... 86 12. The Nuclear Project’s Problems Continue............................................... 88 13. The Risk of the Westinghouse and Toshiba Bankruptcy Intensifies......... 92 14. SCANA Files its 2016 Form 10-K and Deloitte Issues a Clean Audit Report .................................................................................................... 96 F. Deloitte’s “No Audit At All” Conceals SCANA’s Fraud from Investors ............ 96 1. Deloitte Intentionally or Recklessly Fails to Conduct its Audits of SCANA’s Financial Statements in Accordance with PCAOB Standards ................................................................................................ 96 2. Deloitte Intentionally or Recklessly Fails to Conduct its Reviews of SCANA’s Interim Reports .................................................................... 115 PARTIAL DISCLOSURES AND THE GRADUAL EMERGENCE OF THE FULL IMPACT OF THE FRAUD............................................................................... 118 A. The Financial Meltdown of Toshiba and Westinghouse Calls the Nuclear Project into Question ........................................................................................ 119 ii 3:19-cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 4 of 210 B. SCANA Abandons the Nuclear Project, Claiming it Was the “Prudent” Decision, and Recognizes Impairment and Related Project Losses ................... 129 C. Public Investigations Threaten to Strip SCANA of Billions of Dollars of BLRA Funds, and Reveal the Fatal Risks Facing the Nuclear Project ............... 136 D. SCANA Records $2.5 Billion in Impairment Losses, Admitting that its Past Financial Statements Were Not in Accordance with GAAP .............................. 154 POST-CLASS PERIOD EVENTS ............................................................................... 157 A. After Facing Strong Opposition, scana Merges with Dominion ........................ 157 B. Moody’s Downgrades SCANA’s Credit Ratings to “Speculative ‘Junk’ Grade” ............................................................................................................. 160 C. A Senior SCANA Executive’s Whistleblower Complaint Becomes Public ....... 161 D. Deloitte’s Knowledge of the Bechtel Reports Becomes Public ......................... 163 E. SCANA Settles Class Action Allegations ......................................................... 165 F. SEC Files a Complaint Alleging Securities Fraud and Civil and Criminal Investigations Continue .................................................................................... 165 SUMMARY OF SCIENTER ALLEGATIONS ........................................................... 166 DELOITTE’S FALSE AND MISLEADING STATEMENTS AND OMISSIONS ...... 172 A. SCANA’S 2015 Form 10-K and Deloitte’s Unqualified 2015 Audit Report ..... 172 1. False and Misleading Statements and Omissions Regarding the Nuclear Project Completion Date and SCANA’s Eligibility to Receive $1.4 Billion in Nuclear Tax Credits ......................................... 176 2. False and Misleading Statements and Omissions Concerning SCANA’s Oversight of the Nuclear Project .......................................... 179 3. False and Misleading Statements and Omissions Concerning the Bond Obtained from Westinghouse ...................................................... 181 B. SCANA’s 2016 Forms 10-Q ............................................................................ 181 C. SCANA’S 2016 Form 10-K and Deloitte’s Unqualified 2016 Audit Report ..... 183 1. False and Misleading Statements and Omissions Regarding the Nuclear Project Completion Date and SCANA’s Eligibility to Receive $1.4 Billion in Nuclear Tax Credits ......................................... 187 2. False and Misleading Statements and Omissions Concerning SCANA’s Oversight of the Nuclear Project .......................................... 190 iii 3:19-cv-03304-MBS Date Filed 05/19/20 Entry Number 44 Page 5 of 210 LOSS CAUSATION ..................................................................................................