Sacks of Cash, Calpers, Pay-to-Play, California Pensions

Sacks of Cash, Wedding Funding the Pay in Calpers ‘Pay-to-Play’ - MoneyBeat - WSJ: ".... The cash bribes were among the new details about the long-running case revealed as part of a new plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors. Mr. Buenrostro and Mr. Villalobos were charged last year with a conspiracy to fabricate documents that duped Apollo into paying millions to Mr. Villalobos’s firm. The case highlights the sometimes-murky role of so-called “placement agents” such as Mr. Villalobos who collect fees from private-equity firms, hedge funds and other investment firms eager to manage pension funds’ money. Mr. Buenrostro is the highest profile former public official to plead guilty to pay-to-play charges since 2010, when former New York state comptroller Alan Hevesi admitted that he traded access to the state pension plan in exchange for personal gain. The former Calpers CEO said in the plea agreement he accepted the $200,000 in three installments while meeting at a hotel across from the state capital building in downtown Sacramento. He also let Mr. Villalobos pay for his November 2004 wedding, stays at two Nevada casinos and business trips to Dubai, Hong Kong and Macau, according to the documents..." (read more at the link above)

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