HUGE!: SEC Investigation Into L.A. City Pension Fund WIDENING as Partner in Firm is ARRESTED!

Say what you want about Zuma Dogg, as long as you say that I warned of this as it was happening, then alerted the masses after the losses were announced, then was the first and only one calling for an investigation. Yes, I'm bitter for all the time, money and energy I spent attending coucil meetings to get the message out on TV and all the time I spent blogging about it, while being scoffed and scorned and ignored. HA HA! I WAS RIGHT, YOU WERE WRONG! I SAID SOMETHING AND DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT! YOU DIDN'T!

What else do you want to know about what is and what will be happening in Los Angeles? Remember, you heard of "Now and Laters?" Zuma Dogg compared to the rest of the news media is called "Before and Afters." (Zuma Dogg covers it before, then LA Times and everyone else covers it after.)

From the Los Angeles Times

SEC sues consulting firm for Los Angeles pension agency

The lawsuit and the arrest of a partner in the firm are part of a widening kickback scandal.

By Walter Hamilton, David Zahniser and Marc Lifsher

Reporting from Sacramento, Los Angeles and New York -- A multimillion-dollar pension-kickback scandal widened further Thursday as a consulting firm for a Los Angeles city retirement fund was sued by federal regulators and one of its partners was arrested on criminal charges.

Aldus Equity was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with civil securities fraud for allegedly making improper payments to win business managing money for a New York state pension fund.

Dallas-based Aldus is one of two firms that recommend private equity funds to the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension agency, which manages a $10.7-billion portfolio for retired firefighters and police officers.

Aldus has a three-year contract and receives $1 million a year to advise the Los Angeles fund, said Tom Lopez, the pension agency's chief investment officer.

Saul Meyer, a founding partner of Aldus, was arrested and charged by New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo with one count of criminal fraud.

Lawyers for Aldus and Meyer denied the charges against their clients.

Cuomo's investigation of alleged pension abuses is turning up signs of potential problems in California and other states, the attorney general told reporters.

"I don't think this is unique to New York," he said. "I believe other states have similar problems."

Cuomo said his office would coordinate more with other states regarding pensions, "and we're going to be doing that literally in the next couple of days."

Scott Gerber, a spokesman for California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, declined to elaborate on Cuomo's statement.

"We work with New York on lots of issues, but we're not going to confirm nor deny an investigation on this," Gerber said.

The allegations against Aldus raise new questions about the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension agency.

The Times reported last week that the SEC's Los Angeles office asked two pension board members, Sean Harrigan and Elliott Broidy, for detailed information about their personal financial dealings and about any communications they had with Aldus and other firms whose names have been linked to the pension scandal.

The SEC alleges that Aldus paid a shell company about $320,000 in sham "finder fees" in return for being hired to manage $375 million for the New York pension fund.

The shell company was owned by Henry "Hank" Morris, a onetime advisor to former New York comptroller Alan Hevesi.

READ FULL ARTICLE (Is this the firm CM Tony Cardenas is tight with?)

YOU KNOW: When my dad passed away and left the stock portfolio behind that he watched like a hawk, 24 hours a day, I didn't trust the executor implicitly, and started to look into the stock market and started to follow the market, which led my focus to the global economy and I have blogged all the predictions based on that research that we are now all living through. But the point is, when my mom was left with a small portfolio of stocks, I WATCHED IT LIKE A HAWK, TOO!

SO HOW COME LOS ANGELES MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA & LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL MUST NOT HAVE LOOKED INTO THINGS, AT ALL...EVEN THOUGH (THEN) CFO BILL FUJIOKA SAT BEFORE COUNCIL AND WARNED THE HELL OUT OF THEM ABOUT THE STRUCTURING OF THE PENSION INVESTMENTS?!?!?

They let it slide into a $7 BILLION DOLLAR one-year loss?!?!? THIS IS GOING TO BANKRUPT THE CITY BY 2013!

I DO NOT BELIEVE THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. I THINK SOME FOLKS THAT WORK ON SPRING STREET WERE THE ONES PUSHING FOR THESE INVESTMENTS!!!

Either way...YOU DON'T THINK ANYONE INSIDE CITY HALL NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE???