Mmmm unlikely, though Cuomo has finally gotten around to rattling his saber in their and other PE firms’ general directions, which is something. Last month Hank Morris, a political consultant to former Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and David Loglisci, a former deputy controller for Pension Investment and Cash Management under Hevesi, were the only ones charged (with 123 counts of “enterprise corruption and other felonies”) for their parts in a little pension scandale, which came down to steering pensions funds to certain advisers who were offering them some sweet kickbacks to the tune of $35 million. Those putting the money on the table were not named as defendants “or accused of any wrongdoing” and were seemingly going to get off on the argument that they themselves were victims of fraud (“We thought that they were a placement agent!”). They still might, but not without some minor discomfort (which is nothing new, as they’ve been “had” through similar scams several times by now).
New York State prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether the Carlyle Group, one of the nation’s largest and most politically connected private equity firms, made millions of dollars in improper payments to intermediaries in exchange for investments from New York’s state pension fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the case.
The inquiry, which is examining the activities of a number of investment companies, focuses on what has been a widespread practice among hedge funds and private equity firms — paying so-called placement agents to gain business managing the pension funds run by states for public employees. Such payments often raise questions about conflicts of interest and concerns that they lead placement agents to bribe public officials.
Carlyle, of course, denies any wrong doing. Just like they did the last time they were accused of something like this (in 2006, in Illinois), and the time before that (in CT).
excellent tag
Don’t mess with the iron triangle – bad things may happen to you (purely by coincidence)
New york, April 14
The Carlyle Group today announced the acquisition of portfolio of secret military prison camps from the US government for $ 2.1 bn. The transaction is understood to be supported by $ 2 bn of seller financing (TARP).
A hot wind is blowing from my tv right now.
The New Deal er I mean New Foundation.
the Teleprompter Messiah
Inside the Iron Triangle. Good book, lotta conspiracy hatin’ goin’ on, but good book
And what about Morgan Stanley bribery of government officials, not to mention the other IBanks….or don’t we count PAC contributions and political fundraisers in the definition? Here’s a $100K Senator, and by the way, in a completely unrelated matter, can you neuter the SEC for us! ;-)
@7- go sell crazy somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here.
@8 You don’t think that the banks handed over campaign contributions to ranking members of the congress and then asked for favors in return. Talk about crazy!!!!
Searle & Company seems to have played a key role in all this. Mr. Micheal Winicki did Searle’s books, was Alan Hevesi’s and Andrew Hevesi’s campaign treasurer. How convenient. Those responsible in the firms that paid the kickbacks and those who received the kickbacks need to be sent to prison for cheating the honest people whose money they were trusted to manage. But somehow, I feel political contributions and political connections may buy their get-out-of-jail free cards. We can only pray those conducting the investigations won’t be wrongly influenced. Time will tell.
It is amazing that RATner will not be indicted by Cuomo. Clearly RATner bribed Loglisci by giving Loglisci’s brother $100K for some idiotic movie. Who was doing the books of Searle & Company. Was Morris doing his own accounting. What about all the subpeonas that were sent to the firms doing business with the NYS Pension fund. Who were the firms? Who was contributing to Hevesi’s and his son’s campaign and why? Only a handfull of indictments. Ya, right. … and I have a NY bridge you can buy that crosses the East River. Alot of pieces of the puzzle are missing and the people are getting the shaft. People like Morris, RATner, Hevesi, Winicki and Loglisci and the the individuals at the firms they did business with should be put in prison and forced to work hard labor.
Where did the 25 million in Morris’ kickbacks go? We know they went to shell corporations run by Morris/Winicki (Hevesi’s campaign tresurer), but then where did the money go? Did it just collect dust in the shell corporations?