Topeka ? An internal investigation of Westar Energy Inc. alleges that former chief David Wittig plundered the company for personal gain and that the company’s board of directors did little to stop him.

The 376-page report released today details Wittig’s managment of the company from when he came on board in 1995 to his resignation last year. Westar is the state’s largest electric utility whose service area includes Lawrence.

•Download Westar’s internal investigation reportNote: The report is approximately 370 pages long, and the file is 15 MB.•Download Westar’s board’s resolutions to deal with the problems found•More documents on Westar’s Web sitePast stories:¢ Two directors resign from Westar board (5-10-03)¢ Wittig was to earn nearly $10M (5-1-03)¢ Westar sued over retirement accounts (4-27-03)¢ Westar could owe past execs $81 million (4-14-03)¢ More stories

The report alleges that Wittig misled company directors on issues of his pay and investments by the company.

In addition, Wittig and other senior officers frequently used company aircraft for personal travel without reimbursing the company, according to the report.

“We believe the extent to which Mr. Wittig and, to a lesser extent, Douglas T. Lake, an executive vice president currently on unpaid leave, exploited their authority for personal gain increased over time as potential obstacles to their excesses were removed,” the report stated.

The report also criticizes former board members for failing to check Wittig.

Released with the report was a resolution by Westar’s board to seek reimbursement for personal air travel on company aircraft from Wittig, Lake and other former Westar officials for the past five years.

Wittig resigned after he was indicted on charges of falsifying documents involved in a $1.5 million bank loan. Wittig has pleaded innocent and will be tried in June.

The internal investigation was commissioned in September after Westar was served with subpoeanas from a federal grand jury requesting information about Wittig and other company matters.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also is looking into Westar and state regulators have ordered the company to restructure itself.