Will Carlyle Go Down For Bribing Government Officials?

[seemslikeadream]

http://dealbreaker.com/2009/04/will-carlyle-go-down-for-bribi.php

Mmmm unlikely, though Cuomo has finally gotten around to rattling his saber in their and other PE firms' general directions, which is something. Last month Hank Morris, a political consultant to former Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and David Loglisci, a former deputy controller for Pension Investment and Cash Management under Hevesi, were the only ones charged (with 123 counts of "enterprise corruption and other felonies") for their parts in a little pension scandale, which came down to steering pensions funds to certain advisers who were offering them some sweet kickbacks to the tune of $35 million. Those putting the money on the table were not named as defendants "or accused of any wrongdoing" and were seemingly going to get off on the argument that they themselves were victims of fraud ("We thought that they were a placement agent!"). They still might, but not without some minor discomfort (which is nothing new, as they've been "had" through similar scams several times by now).

New York State prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether the Carlyle Group, one of the nation's largest and most politically connected private equity firms, made millions of dollars in improper payments to intermediaries in exchange for investments from New York's state pension fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the case.
The inquiry, which is examining the activities of a number of investment companies, focuses on what has been a widespread practice among hedge funds and private equity firms -- paying so-called placement agents to gain business managing the pension funds run by states for public employees. Such payments often raise questions about conflicts of interest and concerns that they lead placement agents to bribe public officials.

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. They won't, but they should!

Hedge funds, hedge funds. I still have a gut feeling that hedge funds have been at the heart of every bit of this mess we're in.

[JDPriestly]

2. Obama said some good things in his speech on the economy,

but I was disappointed that he did not say anything about criminal actions against the home-grown pirates who hijacked our economy. It is shameful that the people who ran the banks, insurance companies and big business into the ground by cheating, by committing fraud, are being allowed to just walk away with their fortunes intact.

Obama is just too nice. He seems to be refusing to prosecute those in the Bush administration who violated they law by committing torture and wiretapping without warrants -- and now, failing to mention that those who put us into economic jeopardy should be prosecuted for fraud. Has he never read the Oedipus Trilogy? You cannot just move on from some things. Look what happened when people tried to just move on from Bush's theft of the election in 2000. Everything Bush touched went sour. It was truly out of a Greek tragedy -- and Obama needs to take note and seek justice for ordinary people.

[izzie]

3. I do not get this stuff

Always looks to me like if you steal from a fund or the 7-11 you are still a crook and in fact if you work the big funds you hurt more people. But then I guess it is like the IRS and going after the little people and not the people who get away with millions. It is just easy to do it that way. Little poor people do not have the pull or lawyers to fight back. Still a crook is a crook.