Posted on 01/06/2006 1:34:40 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Dang, yur quick! Thanks
The subpoenas
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/pension/20060106-1401-bn06subpoena.html
UNION-TRIBUNE
January 6, 2006
During two years of federal investigations into San Diego's financial practices, U.S. investigators have issued multiple subpoenas, 18 of which have been released by the City Attorney's Office. The records sought by the subpoenas date to 1995.
The summons include 16 grand jury subpoenas, from 2004 through December 2005. They demand a variety of records, including ordinances and drafts governing a plan to underfund the city's pension plan while increasing benefits.
The grand jury subpoenas also asked for the payroll records of 15 current and former city employees, including some who also served on the city's pension board.
Another two subpoenas in April 2004 and June 2005 were from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The wide-ranging subpoenas demanded a number of records pertaining to the city's bond disclosures, City Council actions and labor negotiations.
They targeted more than 30 city officials, including former Mayor Dick Murphy, former City Manager Michael Uberuaga, deputy city attorneys, financial officers and internal auditors.
AP article on the wire
Five San Diego pension fund officials indicted on federal charges
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5811683p-5827851c.html
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A federal grand jury on Friday indicted five current and former San Diego pension fund officials on 20 counts of fraud and conspiracy in an investigation of the city's troubled finances.
Ron Saathoff, Terri Webster and Cathy Lexin - three former trustees on the board overseeing the city's retirement fund - were named in the indictment along with the fund's former administrator, Lawrence B. Grissom, and current general counsel, Loraine Chapin.
The five were accused of concealing information from fellow board members about a crucial 2002 vote that allowed San Diego to escape payments to the retirement fund and, at the same time, enhance pension benefits.
Saathoff failed to reveal that the vote would boost his pension by more than $25,000 a year by allowing him to combine his union and city salaries to calculate his pension, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Attorneys for Saathoff, Webster and Lexin did not return messages left seeking comment. A message left with a San Diego City Employees Retirement System spokeswoman also wasn't returned.
The 2002 vote and a similar move in 1996 were largely to blame for a pension deficit that has swelled to $1.37 billion. The pension debacle has crippled the city's ability to borrow money, sparked talk of bankruptcy and led Mayor Dick Murphy to resign from office last year a few months after he was narrowly elected to a second term.
The U.S. attorney's office and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have been investigating city finances for nearly two years. The investigation was delayed by the pension board's repeated refusal to waive attorney-client privilege and hand over documents sought by federal investigators.
Saathoff, Webster and Lexin and three other former board members were charged last year in state court and pleaded not guilty to felony conflict-of-interest violations for allegedly casting votes from which they personally profited.
The pension mess began in 1996, when the city cut contributions and improved benefits as it grappled with raids on its treasury by state government and costs for hosting the Republican National Convention.
Let's not forget the outraegous sums that SD's pensioners were promised. Nor city officials living high on the taxpayers tab buying $200 shots of Tequila on expensed lunches. Boards voting themselves raises and pension increases. And just about every other conceivable type of corruption.
All those years on the case and hopefully these indictments are just the tip of the iceberg.
Cathy Lexin and Loraine Chapin look very defiant in their photos. Webster looks like she's on the verge of tears. Grissom is thinking, "Darn."
Indictment (PDF)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/pension/images/060106fedpensionindictment.pdf
Thanks!
Looks like litigator heaven will descend on the courts of San Diego.
A few plea deals and then some more indictments for those not caught in this swoop thru the ranks.
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