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Maine Retirement System Files WorldCom Suit
The latest entrant into the sweepstakes is the $6-billion Maine State Retirement System, which filed a lawsuit in Kennebec County Superior Court alleging 16 accounting firms and banks misled state officials about the WorldCom investments. This led to losses by state pension funds of approximately $38 million when the value of WorldCom bonds collapsed, according to a news release.
“There is a loss here, and we believe that the responsibility for the loss can be attributed to the defendant accountants and underwriters,” Kay Evans, the retirement system’s executive director, said.
Among the defendants listed in the lawsuit are:
- Citigroup
- Salomon Smith Barney
- J.P. Morgan Securities
- Arthur Andersen.
Similar suits have been filed in recent months by various state pension funds. Among them the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) (See Tennessee Fund Files WorldCom Suit ), the University of California (See UC Seeks Home Court Advantage in WorldCom Suit ), the state of Ohio (See Ohio Will Stay Close to Home With Enron, WorldCom Claims ), the state of Alaska (See Alaska Sues Finance Firms Over WorldCom Losses ) as well as pension systems in California, Illinois, West Virginia, and Alabama.