The state of New York has apparently been subject to considerable criminal misuse of it's public pension fund. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating allegations that for decades the pension fund has been weakened and corrupted by the "Sole Trustee Model". Cuomo alleges that former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevisi operated a complex scheme allowing pension fund assets to be used by his chief political aide and other political allies and friends. Cuomo calls it a "Pay to Play Scheme" that florished by the "Sole Trustee Model".
The Common Retirement Fund for the state of New York is valued at $116 billion dollars according to autor Nick Rees.
Therefore Cuomo , along with three New York Senators have introduced Legislation in the state that would replace the pension funds sole trustee with a board of trustees. The legislation called "Taxpayers Reform for Upholding Security and Transparency" or "TRUST" would also provide more civil, criminal and administrative penalties to ensure accountability. The hard working public employees of New York should appreciate this legislation. It has aspects similar to Sarbaynes Oxley calling for more oversight and controls to insure the safety of public money. The bill calls for transparancy of the investment process and prohibits campaign contributions by firms investing pension fund dollars (pay to play). As an accountant, it is my hope that this legislation will be enacted and copied by other states because more controls are necessary to prevent fraud.
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/223324-cuomos-pension-code-introduced-as-legislation
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We can't even trust the people who are supposed to be standing for our rights. The people work hard and pay high tax dollars to have their funds stolen by the might i add "wealthy". People are just greedy and selfish. I have a pension and 401K but I feel as though Im walking on glass sometimes. Especially when i see stories like this.
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