Calpers Board Member

Lawyers at California's political watchdog agency are proposing that a $3,000 fine be levied against a state pension board director for failing to file an annual financial statement. Priya Mathur, a two-term member of the board at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, did not file a legally required Statement of Economic Interests in 2007. Disclosure statements listing all sources of income, investment holdings and gifts received are required to be submitted annually by elected and appointed state officials as well as by top managers at government agencies and commissions.

A federal judge has approved a plan to liquidate the estate of Alfred J.R. Villalobos, former board member of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the state's biggest public pension fund. The action by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Reno, Nev., ended an 18-month bankruptcy proceeding and cleared the way for the state to pursue a fraud lawsuit against Villalobos, who the state alleges plied pension fund officials with luxury trips and gifts to influence investment decisions.

A federal judge has approved a plan to liquidate the estate of Alfred J.R. Villalobos, former board member of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the state's biggest public pension fund. The action by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Reno, Nev., ended an 18-month bankruptcy proceeding and cleared the way for the state to pursue a fraud lawsuit against Villalobos, who the state alleges plied pension fund officials with luxury trips and gifts to influence investment decisions.

Board members and officers of the long-troubled California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's largest pension fund, could be fined thousands of dollars for not properly reporting gifts received from investment firms. The staff of California's political ethics watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, proposed the fines that will be considered by the full commission Sept. 22. Though the proposed fines are relatively small, they were a sign that a 2-year-old influence-peddling and corruption scandal at CalPERS has yet to run its course.

Fees paid by private-equity investment firms to a former California Public Employees' Retirement System board member have ballooned to more than $70 million in new disclosures released by the pension fund, known as CalPERS. The revelation comes amid a widening probe of such fees by CalPERS as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies. Previous documents showed that private-equity investment funds paid Alfred J.R. Villalobos, 65, and his companies Arvco Capital Research and Arvco Financial Ventures about $53 million for helping them get access to CalPERS' $200-billion portfolio.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the country's largest public pension fund, has named a new investment executive to run its $49-billion private equity portfolio. Real Desrochers, who spent a decade doing a similar job for the California State Teachers' Retirement System, replaces Leon Shahinian, who resigned in August. He left the agency after being put on administrative leave in the wake of a spreading corruption scandal at CalPERS. Shahinian was mentioned but not named as a defendant in a 2010 lawsuit filed by then-Atty.

In the wake of alleged bribe payments, the scandal-plagued California Public Employees' Retirement System has ended contract renewal negotiations with a company that administers prescription drug benefits for 300,000 members. A CalPERS internal investigation report released earlier this week alleged that Medco Health Solutions Inc. paid more than $4 million in what was called "consulting" fees to win the original contract in 2006. The money was allegedly paid in secret to Alfred J.R. Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member turned dealmaker.

The obscure intermediaries that were paid millions of dollars to win investment business from the California Public Employees' Retirement System ranged from Wall Street heavyweights to small independent firms. But all shared a common pursuit: grabbing a piece of lucrative consulting work in what has become a pension-fund bonanza. Documents released by CalPERS on Thursday show that a variety of firms with differing backgrounds and expertise were paid tens of millions over the last decade for acting as intermediaries between investment managers and the pension-fund giant.

Legislation to ban commissions paid to intermediaries for steering California's public pension money to investment houses has spurred a lobbying war led by Wall Street's powerful Blackstone Group, allied with such major banking firms as Wells Fargo & Co. The battle over fees for so-called placement agents is heating up as the bill gets its first hearing in the state Legislature next week. The fight arose amid a series of federal and state investigations in California and New York into possible corruption and influence peddling at major public pension funds, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's biggest.

A state lawsuit targeting two top former officials of the California Public Employees' Retirement System could be the first in a series of state and federal actions focused on the nation's largest public pension fund. "This is not the end of this case or the end of the investigation," said Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown at a Thursday press conference. "Other things could follow," Brown said that information from his investigation or independent investigations could result in more law suits or criminal indictments from a local district attorney, the Fair Political Practices Commission or other law enforcement agencies.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the country's largest public pension fund, has named a new investment executive to run its $49-billion private equity portfolio. Real Desrochers, who spent a decade doing a similar job for the California State Teachers' Retirement System, replaces Leon Shahinian, who resigned in August. He left the agency after being put on administrative leave in the wake of a spreading corruption scandal at CalPERS. Shahinian was mentioned but not named as a defendant in a 2010 lawsuit filed by then-Atty.

It's the name behind some of the most recognized brands around, including Carl's Jr. restaurants, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Smart & Final warehouse stores. It's also the name that came up, again and again, in a recent independent report about corruption inside the nation's largest public pension system. Apollo Global Management, a New York private equity investment firm, was not accused of wrongdoing in its dealings with the California Public Employees' Retirement System. But the report detailed how Apollo had paid tens of millions of dollars to a former CalPERS board member who helped it land billions of dollars of investments from the massive pension fund.

A long-awaited report on corruption within the California Public Employees' Retirement System provided new details last week on how a handful of former officials were showered with gifts by a "placement agent" representing private equity firms and a health benefits contractor. CalPERS has already tried to put the scandal behind it, and state officials have instituted numerous reforms to guard against similar abuses. Yet the report will no doubt embolden critics of public employee pensions, who have been pushing to reduce or even end them.

In the wake of alleged bribe payments, the scandal-plagued California Public Employees' Retirement System has ended contract renewal negotiations with a company that administers prescription drug benefits for 300,000 members. A CalPERS internal investigation report released earlier this week alleged that Medco Health Solutions Inc. paid more than $4 million in what was called "consulting" fees to win the original contract in 2006. The money was allegedly paid in secret to Alfred J.R. Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member turned dealmaker.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System needs stricter ethics rules and stronger oversight to avoid the kinds of conflicts of interest that have plagued the fund over the last few years, according to recommendations from an independent examiner. In addition, the state Legislature should pass laws making it easier to take disciplinary action, including dismissal, against CalPERS executives, according to the report from Washington attorney Philip Khinda. Under current law, CalPERS must engage in a lengthy process in accordance with the state's complex civil service laws and regulations.

State prosecutors are preparing for possible action against another financial firm that does business with California's scandal-tarnished pension fund, newly disclosed documents show. In a letter this week to the California Public Employees Retirement System, officials at the state attorney general's office stated they are at "a very sensitive stage" of an investigation into a financial firm doing business with the pension fund. The prosecutors did not identify the firm and requested that CalPERS not disclose any documents related to the investigation.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, said it's severing ties with Pacific Corporate Group as it revamps its private-equity program. Pacific Corporate Group will no longer help manage two emerging-markets funds with more than $1 billion combined or run the pension system's Clean Energy & Technology Fund, Calpers said Monday. Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear is overhauling Calpers's private-equity strategy after the system was caught up in the scandal involving payments to placement agents, third parties who help money managers find business.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System needs stricter ethics rules and stronger oversight to avoid the kinds of conflicts of interest that have plagued the fund over the last few years, according to recommendations from an independent examiner. In addition, the state Legislature should pass laws making it easier to take disciplinary action, including dismissal, against CalPERS executives, according to the report from Washington attorney Philip Khinda. Under current law, CalPERS must engage in a lengthy process in accordance with the state's complex civil service laws and regulations.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, said it's severing ties with Pacific Corporate Group as it revamps its private-equity program. Pacific Corporate Group will no longer help manage two emerging-markets funds with more than $1 billion combined or run the pension system's Clean Energy & Technology Fund, Calpers said Monday. Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dear is overhauling Calpers's private-equity strategy after the system was caught up in the scandal involving payments to placement agents, third parties who help money managers find business.

After a yearlong scandal involving alleged influence peddling and corruption, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday signed a bill that will regulate the activities of outside deal-makers who help investment managers secure government pension fund money. The pension bill, backed by the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System as well as the state treasurer and controller, requires that so-called placement agents register as lobbyists before they can pitch investment proposals to the $200-billion pension fund's staff and board members.