Monday, October 19, 2009

Who Rob the People's Pensions
California Pension Investigation Gives New Yorkers Some Answers
New Yorkers May Have to Pay Tens of Millions in the Next Few Years into both the City's and State's Pensions Funds to Keep Them from Defaulting

Pay-to-play scams that have roiled the nation’s retirement funds involved a vast and deeply-enmeshed web of super-connected players


We when through an entire election cycle to elected a New York City controller and because of the careful election spin strategies of the candidates to ignore the pension scandal and the absence of media investigation reporting on the which has already seen several convictions and out of court agreements with Cuomo and the pension funds that broke the law. A big result of this dysfunctional election election for comptroller is we have no clue with the pols did to our pension, no clue what the new comptroller will do to get rid of political money managers and will all act shocked if down the road we fund out that these money managers loaded New York's pensions with junk. Will New York's pensions needs tens of billions in tax payer money to prevent defaults? Who knows. In the last

This investigation has uncovered a matrix of corruption – which grows more expansive and interconnected by the day,” said Attorney General Cuomo.

"I believe we are disclosing a national network of actors who often acted in concert and did this all across the country," Mr. Cuomo said. "They collaborated, they often partnered and victimized states and taxpayers across the country. It's also an ongoing scam."

Unraveling the Matrix
Luckily or unluckily the investigation of the California pension fund gives New Yorkers some answers. The reason we can predict the future is these placement agents – middlemen paid to open doors for private equity firms and other money managers for the most part are the same in New York and California. In fact they seem to work together or in concert with each other in so many states that only the chief investigators in the Attorney General office, the SEC and the FBI know what the hell is going on.

What we know From Cal
Two Main Players in Both NY and Cal
We learned last week was that the California pension fund called Calpers is being rocked by 'Pay to Play' investigation. The two main targets of the investigation are Alfred Villalobos who ran the pension investent fund Arvco and Leon Black who ran Apollo Management. California investorgators are looking at how former Calpers board member Vilalobos had reaped more than $50 million in fees for arranging investments that could saddle California taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

Ferrer Paid as a Placement Agent for Vilalobos
Freddy Ferrer, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City in 2005, worked as a consultant for Alvco. Seven months after Mr. Ferrer made the introduced Vilalobos to NY State Comptroller DiNapoli, Ferrer earned $100,000 in fees and a $10 million fee for Vilalobos firm Alvco. Starting in 1977 Leon Black learn the trade while he was employed by ex junk bond king Michael Milken investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert. Black left in 1990 and started Apollo because Milken was jailed after a guilty plea to six securities and reporting violations.
(Craton Equity Partners)

Arvco Loses Money for California Pension Fund


WSJ reports that Arvco recommended some of Calpers's poorly performing investments; last year the pension fund lost nearly a quarter of its value and more than $50 billion.

Cal is investigation weather Albert and his daugthter gave money to a pension board member campaign in return for Pension business

Albert Vilalobos contributed $2000 to controller Thompson and his daughter Carissa $4,950.00 10/10/2004 right before he recieved NYC Pension funds

Black's Apollo Paid Vilalobos Alvco
The private equity firm Apollo Management (Black), paid Villalobos Arvco Capital a placement-agent fee in 2007 after the New York pension fund invested $350 million Apollo, even though the state has invested with Mr. Black's firm since 1996. How can Vilalobos help Black get in with DiNapoli if he needed Ferrer to introduce him at the same time to the NYS Comptroller?

Poorly Performed

New York State invested $195 million in the Apollo fund, and is currently entitled to roughly $20 million in overpaid commissions.

Money managers leon Black owner NYc penson $365 million because of souring investments, the returning of money is know as clawback

Apollo Management, has asked for and received a two-year extension, to July 2010, in hopes of righting the money-losing fund.



Wetherly Capital Group

An unlicensed intermediary Julio Ramirez working for Wetherly Capital as a broker-dealer, partnered with the chief political operative at the NYS Comptroller’s Office Hank Morris to split profits from corrupt pension fund deals, Ramirez has already pleaded guilty to paying $250,000 in fees to Morris.

Saul Meyers Aldus Equity Partners
The pension system terminated one of the advisers, Aldus Equity Partners, whose partner Saul Meyer has been criminally charged in connection with the scandal. Meyer pleaded guilty to charges that he paid over $300,000 in bogus finders fees to Henry Morris, chief aide of former state comptroller Alan Hevesi, in exchange for $375m of investments in Aldus private equity funds between 2004 and 2006. Hevesi resigned from his post in 2006

Meyer is also being investigated in New Mexico on charges of helping Hevesi’s son, Dan, to land a $25m investment deal with the New Mexico pension fund. At the time, Aldus was a private equity advisor to the fund and seeking business with the Hevesi-controlled New York pension fund. Dan Hevesi received a $250,000 placement fee for the transaction. On this charge, Meyer writes, “On numerous occasions, however, contrary to my fiduciary duty, I ensured that Aldus recommended certain proposed investments that were pushed on me by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico.

Wissman Aldus
New Mexico, which has paid Aldus millions in investment advisory fees

Hevesi Gives Aldus Payoff After His Son Was Paid Off

Aldus is accused of helping Daniel Hevesi, Mr. Hevesi’s son, profit from a deal in New Mexico at the same time that the New York comptroller’s office, then run by his father, agreed to increase by $200 million the amount of pension money overseen by Aldus.


Arvco also brokered a deal involving the city’s pension fund last year, but the office of City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. said Mr. Ferrer had not approached Mr. Thompson as part of any deal or for Arvco.(Year)



Cal is investigation weather Albert and his daugthter gave money to a pension board member campaign in return for Business

Separating the cash from the billionaires, in a process known as a clawback, won't be easy. Already, one of the wealthy asset managers, Leon Black and his Apollo Management, has asked for and received a two-year extension, to July 2010, in hopes of riguhting the money-losing fund.

One Apollo investor who would like his money back, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he is basically being forced to give Apollo "an open-ended interest-free loan on a bad credit risk."

A second investor, who also spoke only if he wasn't identified, seemed irked that Black had not even addressed the issue. He would handle things differently if he were running Apollo -- and at least talk to investors about the roughly $365 million it owes all investors in the fund. New York's state pension represents about 6 percent of the Apollo fund.


Arvco clients have obtained seven commitments from CalPERS totaling more than $3.3 billion since 2006, not bad for a pension fund that accepted fewer than 10 percent of the proposals made by private equity firms represented by placement agents.

In 1993 Villalobos resigned as Los Angeles' deputy mayor for economic development after the Los Angeles Times reported that he had suffered huge gambling losses and filed for personal bankruptcy in the 1980s.



Saul Meyer Aldus
The other thread running through both the New York and New Mexico pension funds was the advisory firm Aldus Equity, whose founder Saul Meyer was charged yesterday with participating in the New York conspiracy and which also until this week advised similar investments in New Mexico.

Aldus acted as an adviser to the New York state fund and a New Mexico government fund, helping them conduct due diligence and select investment managers.

In 2006, Aldus advised the New Mexico government fund to make a $25 million investment in Catterton Partners, a private-equity firm in Greenwich, Conn. Catterton paid a finders' fee on that investment to the firm of Mr. Hevesi's son, Dan Hevesi

“On numerous occasions…I ensured that Aldus recommended certain proposed investments that were pushed on me by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico. I did this knowing that these politically-connected individuals or their associates stood to benefit financially or politically from the investments and that the investments were not necessarily in the best economic interest of New Mexico.”

It seems odd that the individuals aren’t named here; our previous reporting has turned up plenty of public references, in lawsuits and other places, to folks being investigated for possible pay-to-play connections in New Mexico. They include Julio Ramirez and Marc Correra, as well as placement firm Wetherly Capital. Ramirez has already pleaded guilty in the New York case.

awsuit filed in New Mexico state court by the former chief investment officer of the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

he complaint charges that Henry "Hank" Morris and Searle Co. received, paid or arranged kickbacks from firms to win investment business from New Mexico. Morris, along with David J. Loglisci, New York state's former deputy comptroller and chief investment officer, are two of the key figures in the ongoing New York State Common Retirement Fund pay-to-play scandal. Both were charged in a 123-count indictment in March and have denied wrongdoing.




Wednesday, October 14, 2009

LIC

2009

Paterson awards $1.5M taxpayer funds to Claire's phony LDC

Corruption j=Mclaughlin

Brian McLaughlin Rats, Only the Daily News Does the Right Thing

'GRAFT' JUST LIKE BAD OL' DAYS OF TAMMANY




Taking Down Deutsche Bank Not the Problem Councilman Gerson


Contractor Goes to Jail: Question to the NYT: What did McLaughlin Fix?


Mob Wars

New York’s Political Mob Wars

Organized Crime Politics,

Organized Crime Politics Part 1

Mob never left the WATERFRONT

Council Wimps, What Mob? The council ignores the real reason for the death of two firefighter at the Deutsche Bank by passing meaningless laws that will not solve the problem. In the last several months we have been told of organized crime involvement in both the contractors taking down the Deutsche Bank and the NYC Building Department which is responsible for regulation them. What is the council answer to this problem passing a bill that prevents building crews from performing demolitions at the same time as asbestos abatement. In New York is your a legislator it OK to ignore reality, because the public reelects you no matter how you behave. In the city and Albany Not I, Said the New York Senate As New York State’s money supply runs down, its senators need to start taking real actions instead of hiding from reality New York's debt level of $64.8 billion is higher than ever The Capital of the Mob World Former Prosecutor Appointed to Investigate Corruption in Crane Operators’ Union

City's Mob Two Step The mob with full knowledge and acceptance regularly gets around city and state rules that prohibit them from benefiting from city funded developments in two ways. The mob takes advantage that many of the project funded by the city in whole or part are built by second parties. The city heavily subsidised the building of the new Mets stadium thought bond guarantees, while the ball team's owners built the CitiField and hired contractors Met 'mob' contracts Shady firms got $52M to build Citi Field. The second way the Mob builds city and state funded project is through development corporations like Lower Manhattan who do not do the background checks that the city and state are required to do. In Deutsche bank blaze, DA to charge mob-tied subcontractor John Galt Corp. with manslaughter


Pension

True News: Wolf at Thompson Door, Part II . Avella Opens A Cut

The Wolf at Thompson's Door
Robbins in the Village Voice opened up a small cut over Thompson's eye that the comptroller was able to to close
Thompson's Pension Pals: A Wound Waiting to be Re-Opened
Some doubt Mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson can escape pension fund scandal mess (Daily News)
The Silence of the Lions: What the Comptroller Candidates Don't Want You to Know
Everyone is Covering Up the Pension Scandal for Their Own Reasons
OUT OF COMPTROLLER, AS SCANDAL SPREADS, CITY COMPTROLLER CANDIDATES LOOK FOR BIGGER ROCK TO HIDE UNDER

Organized Crime Politics: Comptroller Office for Sale $$$



Whose Guarding the People's Pensions?



NY PensionGate Explodes in New Mexico

Follow the Pension Money: NY Magazine Hangs Morris, Rattner Richardson Not Involved?

Everyone is Covering Up the Pension Scandal for Their Own Reasons

Rattner: Toxic Conflict of Interest; Is the NYT at Risk?

Who's Afraid of Steve Rattner? Everyone?

Carlyle Lies Nobody Listens, Gets Away With Pension Crimes

Steve Rattner the Untouchable


NY's Watergate: Several Slush Fund Cover-up



More Media Blinders How did the rating firms miss the deal going on at the bankrupt Lehman Brothers or a Bear Stern, Citibank or the dozens of other banks and financial houses who destroyed the nations economy. Have these rating firms every heard of a derivative? With California and now Ohio suing the rating companies it real amazing that there is not more media coverage of what caused the economic melt down Ohio Sues Rating Firms for Losses in Funds


McCall Back to the Liu Future? The NYT reported on August 23, 2002 that the just appointed head of Comptroller John Liu Elect Transition team as State Comptroller allowed pay to play Accountants and law firms Gave to Carl McCall After Getting State Contract "Law firms have given Mr. McCall nearly $200,000 in campaign donations. In the Cendant case, Mr. McCall did not interfere when the courts awarded the firms $262 million in legal fees (from the pension fund) -- by one calculation, $10,000 an hour." Carl McCall is also under investigation by the the AG in the pension scandal is to be named to head John Liu transition team. No stranger to Play to Play McCall firm Convent Capital was subpoenaed in May of this year, because he accepted a money manager fee and was unlicensed by the SEC. McCall received $48,221 for assisting Steinberg Asset Management in 2005 which received 25 million in pension funds from State Comptroller Hevesi

Pay to Play Liu Already? Carl McCall under investigation by the the AG in the pension scandal is to be named to head John Liu transition team. McCall firm Convent Capital was subpoenaed in May, because he accepted a money manager fee and was unlicensed by the SEC. McCall received $48,221 for assisting Steinberg Asset Management in 2005 which received 25 million in pension funds from State Comptroller Hevesi. After he turned over the papers McCall said in a statement, that this is the only deal in which he participated involving the fund he once controlled. McCall is the former State Comptroller(1993 to 2002). McCall also admitted that he talk to Mr. Loglisci, who is currently indicted for his role in the pension scandal. In a 2002 article on pensions and politics a New York Sun editorial stated that "The New York Times reported that 35 percent of McCall's $5.2 million reelection campaign fund came from firms that received contracts to manage the state's pension fund. It cited one California firm that received an $85 million contract last December, three days after executives donated $16,000 to McCall's campaign. Two months earlier, the paper made similar charges regarding law firms doing business with the comptroller's office. A glowing Times endorsement was a big help to McCall in '94—he can probably forget about that in '98. The Village Voice in an article by Wayne Barrett also in 2002 reported on how Comptroller McCall ignored using the pension funds

Pay to Play Pension Boss McCall As usually it what the NYP does not say in there story about the pension manager firm Ariel Capital Management that is most important. McCall firm skips city biz Ariel an investment company tied to Carl McCall -- and fired by the city last year -- says it won't bid for city pension business while he's the chief adviser to incoming city Comptroller John Liu. McCall's job with Comptroller Liu is that of transition chief that will expire once the comptrollers office is fully staffed. Does that mean the company which was dismissed over disappointing returns and involved in pay to play with the outgoing Thompson ($30,000 to the campaigns contibution) will return once McCall is finish with the transition. After all a lot of people in Liu office will owe their jobs to him. And McCall has done business with more than one company who do New York pension fund business and was no stranger to pay to play when he was comptroller Accountants and law firms Gave to Carl McCall After Getting State Contract *** Carl McCall is also under investigation by the the AG in the pension scandal is to be named to head John Liu transition team * McCall's linked to pension fund mess *** Ex-Comptroller Carl McCall Is Part of New York Pension Inquiry McCall firm Convent Capital was subpoenaed in May, because he accepted a money manager fee and was unlicensed by the SEC. McCall received $48,221 for assisting Steinberg Asset Management in 2005 which received 25 million in pension funds from State Comptroller Hevesi. After he turned over the papers McCall said in a statement, that this is the only deal in which he participated involving the fund he once controlled. What about Ariel Capital Management? McCall is the former State Comptroller(1993 to 2002). McCall also admitted that he talk to Mr. Loglisci, who is currently indicted for his role in the pension scandal. Ariel Capital Management was a big contributor to indicted former Chicago Governor Blagojevich Pension fund firms big donors to gov :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES * The Wolf at Thompson's Door * Everyone is Covering Up the Pension Scandal for Their Own Reasons UPDATE CalPERS probing investment advisor's ties to middleman Documents show Alfred J.R. Villalobos was helping private equity firms win deals with the California pension fund while also working for a firm hired by CalPERS to give it investment advice. Villalobos firm Arvco CapitalAfter Introduction From Ferrer, Firm Earned $100,000 From State Pension Fund



More From the NYT Editorial The Temptations of $126 Billion
"Earlier this month, a California venture capitalist pleaded guilty to helping his company land a very rich deal with New York’s pension fund. In order to manage a $250 million portion of the $126 billion state pension, Elliott Broidy gave nearly $1 million in gifts to officials in the state comptroller’s office. . . Mr. Hevesi resigned three years ago after admitting to a felony. Since then, two of his top former associates are fighting criminal charges relating to the pension fund investments. Four others have pleaded guilty for security fraud, including one of the last political bosses in the state: Raymond Harding, who was a leader of the Liberal Party. And an investigation of New York’s pension scandal by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission is ongoing. New York’s pension fund desperately needs protection. It needs to be guarded by financial experts and watched carefully by the public. It is about more than the fundamental need for good government in Albany, although that’s enough for most people. If the pension loses ground, taxpayers must make up the difference. The Temptations of $126 Billion. "

Pension Corruption Bill Ignored by Assembly and Editorial Boards


True News Pension Investigation: The Tail That Wags the Dog Again


Thursday, July 29, 2010

Paterson's Innocent of What? What Will Both the former NYS Police Superintendent Say? Pedro Perez, Harry Corbitt


Late Night
Report Suggests Paterson Allowed Evidence to Be Leaked (NYT) * David Grandeau Former State Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau tells us why he thinks Judge Kaye’s report clearly suggests that Gov. Paterson violated the Public Officer’s Law. * Bill to aid sick 9/11 responders fails in House

PensionGate Case Clears Court Challenge

Breaking News
Charges upheld in NY pension fund corruption case A judge has refused to toss out most of the charges against a political consultant accused of conspiring with New York officials to drain $19 million in undeserved fees from the state pension fund (NYP)

Morris was tempered by some harsh language in the judge's 85-page decision, which slams Morris for allegedly being the mastermind behind a lucrative "toll gate" for any equity or hedge fund that wanted a piece of the state's massive, more than $120 billion pension pot. *

Only funds that were willing to pay massive brokerage fees to Morris and his accomplices were able to do business with the state, the Attorney General's Office has charged -- an alleged scheme Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone said deprived the state's one million pensioners of the "opportunity to have a safer, better or more balanced portfolio." * Charges upheld in NY pension fund corruption case * Ex-Hevesi Aide Faces Trial on Most Counts in New York Pension-Fund Probe Bloomberg * Political Consultant Faces 77 Charges In Pension Fund Scandal NY1

* Judge in Morris Case Revises Charges (NYT) * A win for the State in Aqueduct case

Spotlight on SEC and Ratner Rattner '74 facing ban from securities industry