KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? David Wittig and another former executive pleaded innocent Tuesday to federal charges of trying to plunder Westar Energy Inc., then beat back prosecutors’ attempts to force new financial disclosures from them.

Wittig, Westar’s former chief executive officer, and Douglas T. Lake, former executive vice president and chief strategic officer, each face 40 felony charges. Prosecutors charge that from 1998 to 2002, they conspired to enrich themselves as Westar’s stock sank from $44 to less than $9 a share and its debt soared to $3.6 billion.

U.S. Magistrate James O’Hara set a trial date of March 8 in Topeka. He allowed Wittig and Lake to remain free until then, despite suggestions from Assistant U.S. Atty. Rich Hathaway that the men were flight risks and could be disposing of assets the government hoped to seize.

Hathaway said Wittig might have sold $10.5 million in assets, including a $5.5 million condominium in New York and Westar stock, while Lake has sold nearly $296,000 in Westar stock. He said prosecutors wanted to know what happened to the money and the response from two men’s attorneys “was to stonewall.”

In addition, Hathaway asked to have a $1 million bond set for Wittig and $500,000 bond for Lake, a request O’Hara rejected.

Attorneys for Wittig and Lake said they were not flight risks, that no federal law allowed a judge to impose such a reporting requirement before trial, and that Wittig and Lake sold some stock well in advance of the indictment. They also suggested Hathaway was fishing for information to help justify seizing their assets

O’Hara agreed that Wittig and Lake were not flight risks and federal law did not allow him to require such disclosures. He said he did not automatically see the men’s activities an attempt to put assets beyond the government’s reach, adding that he could understand why defense attorneys would be nervous about being forced to provide such information.

“It’s kind of like the dangling thread on a cheap suit,” O’Hara said. “I can understand why the defense would not want to engage in that unraveling process.”

Indictment elements

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The charges against Wittig, 48, of Topeka, and Lake, 53, of New Canaan, Conn., include conspiracy, wire fraud, circumventing internal accounting controls and falsifying books and records, submitting false statements to federal agencies and using criminally derived property.

The indictment also contends that they should be forced to return $33 million in compensation they received from Westar, as well as stock and proceeds from a special program allowing them to convert life insurance benefits into cash.

In addition, prosecutors want to seize Wittig’s home, formerly the residence of the late Gov. Alf Landon, nearly $2 million worth of interior furnishings, and Wittig’s Ferrari, worth nearly $230,000.

Wittig attorney Adam Hoffinger said Wittig was in the fight of his life. “And he’s going to stand up and fight,” Hoffinger said.

Lake attorney Edward Little repeated his previous assertion that the case stemmed from an ongoing employment dispute between Wittig, Lake and Westar about $102 million in past compensation and future payments that could be owed the men under contracts with the company.

“Mr. Lake has had a sterling and distinguished career,” Little said. “There have been no plea discussions with the U.S. attorney, nor will there be.”

‘Profits and cover-ups’

Wittig, who joined Westar in 1995 and became CEO in 1998, resigned in November 2002 to defend himself against separate federal charges involving a $1.5 million personal loan he received in 2001. He was convicted earlier this year, and his sentencing is set for Feb. 27.

Wittig hired Lake in 1998, and Lake left the company in December 2002. Westar’s board of directors said then he was on indefinite administrative leave, but Lake’s attorneys have since said he was fired.

The indictment alleges the two men attempted to “systematically loot” Westar while Wittig was the company’s top executive and while Lake served as its No. 2 official. According to the charges, Wittig and Lake “perverted corporate programs for their own personal profit,” then tried to cover up their actions, partly through intimidation and spying.

In regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Westar closed Tuesday up 8 cents at $20.36.