NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Paladin Homeland Security Holdings LLC will cut future fees from the New York pension fund to help resolve its role in a kickback case, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.
Paladin won a $20 million investment from the pension fund in 2004 after -- at the suggestion of the former state comptroller's top fund-raiser -- the firm hired Raymond Harding, who ran the New York Liberal Party, Cuomo said in a statement.
The private equity firm, the 19th organization swept up by Cuomo's long-running probe, donated $25,000 to the former comptroller's campaign and paid $300,000 in fees to Harding.
The influence-peddling investigation led New York and a number of states to crack down on so-called placement agents-- individuals such as Morris and Harding, who got public pensions to hire investment clients by exploiting their political allies.
'The state pension fund is a valuable asset held in trust for retirees and supported by taxpayers,' said Cuomo, who also is the governor-elect. 'The fund does not belong to party bosses or campaign fund-raisers,' said Cuomo, who has recouped $160 million for the state's approximately $126 billion fund.
(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Andrew Hay) Keywords: NEWYORK CUOMO/ (joan.gralla@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1-646-223-6345) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Paladin won a $20 million investment from the pension fund in 2004 after -- at the suggestion of the former state comptroller's top fund-raiser -- the firm hired Raymond Harding, who ran the New York Liberal Party, Cuomo said in a statement.
The private equity firm, the 19th organization swept up by Cuomo's long-running probe, donated $25,000 to the former comptroller's campaign and paid $300,000 in fees to Harding.
The influence-peddling investigation led New York and a number of states to crack down on so-called placement agents-- individuals such as Morris and Harding, who got public pensions to hire investment clients by exploiting their political allies.
'The state pension fund is a valuable asset held in trust for retirees and supported by taxpayers,' said Cuomo, who also is the governor-elect. 'The fund does not belong to party bosses or campaign fund-raisers,' said Cuomo, who has recouped $160 million for the state's approximately $126 billion fund.
(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Andrew Hay) Keywords: NEWYORK CUOMO/ (joan.gralla@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1-646-223-6345) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.