Former Westar Energy Inc. chief David Wittig was found guilty by a jury Monday of conspiring with a Topeka banker to conceal a loan payment in an effort to ensure financing in a company Wittig wanted to create from Westar’s assets.

Wittig was convicted in U.S. District Court of six counts involving bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The banker, Clinton Odell Weidner II, had pleaded guilty to two counts of making false bank entries before the trial began two weeks ago. Along with Wittig, he was convicted of the four other charges on Monday.

The jury got the case Friday and deliberated for a little more than two hours before recessing. The jury continued to deliberate late into the afternoon Monday, and reached a verdict just before 5 p.m.

The charges stemmed from two transactions on April 30, 2001, at Topeka’s Capital City Bank, where Weidner was Wittig’s personal loan officer.

First, Wittig’s personal credit line was increased — at his request and on Weidner’s recommendation — by $1.5 million. Hours later, $1.5 million was transferred from Wittig’s Capital City account into an Arizona real estate project in which Weidner was investing.

The government said Wittig loaned Weidner the $1.5 million in return for his help in making $20 million worth of bank loans available to Westar executives. Prosecutors said the executives, including Wittig, wanted the money to buy stock in a company Wittig intended to create from Westar assets. State energy regulators blocked the creation of the spinoff company.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Tuesday’s Journal-World.