New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed criminal charges against Saul Meyer, the managing partner at Dallas-based Aldus Equity Partners LP, the latest development in an alleged multimillion-dollar kickback scheme involving New York’s largest pension fund.
Cuomo charged Meyer with violating the state’s antifraud Martin Act in connection with payments he allegedly made between January 2003 and December 2006 in exchange for control of investments in the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Meyer, who has denied wrongdoing, was arraigned at a court appearance in New York City yesterday morning, where a judge set bail at $200,000, according to media reports.
Cuomo alleges that Meyer channeled $300,000 to a shell company owned by Henry Morris, a political adviser to former New York comptroller Alan Hevesi, in exchange for control of $175 million of the fund’s investments.
While seeking an additional $200 million from the retirement fund, Meyer also arranged for Hevesi’s son to get $250,000 in fees on an unrelated investment deal with a government fund in New Mexico, Cuomo said. Ahead of the charges, New Mexico’s State Investment Council fired Aldus as its financial adviser.
The latest charges come after Morris and former deputy comptroller David Loglisci were charged by Cuomo in a separate 123-count criminal indictment in March. They have also denied wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday asked a federal judge in Manhattan to add Aldus and Meyer as defendants to a similar complaint it brought last month against Morris and Loglisci.
The SEC had already named Aldus as one of the funds that made improper payments in exchange for investments from the New York retirement fund.
Last month, Cuomo charged a fifth individual, former Liberal Party chairman Ray Harding, for allegedly obtaining over $800,000 in illegal fees on state pension fund investments as a reward for political favors to Hevesi.
Meanwhile, hedge fund manager Barrett Wissman pleaded guilty to a felony charge under the Martin Act for conduct related to the pension fund, and has agreed to pay $12 million in penalties.
