Administration April 7, 2007

IL TRS Subpoenaed In US Attorney's Investigation

July 28, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The US Attorney's office is investigating fees paid to politically connected individuals by companies that want to invest pension fund money for the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Reported by

Rebecca Moore

“This is not an investigation of [the system] but rather a number of individuals that came in contact with the system,” said Jon Bauman, executive director of the TRS. Bauman said the fund is fully cooperating with the investigation and has not suffered any losses as a result of the investigation.

The investigation focuses on Stuart Levine and John Glennon, two former board members charged in an alleged kickback scheme involving the state hospital planning board, said the Tribune.

Glennon was charged with helping to conceal kickbacks totaling $700,000.

Charges against Levine allege that he was trying to win the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approval of a project for Mercy Hospital to get a $1.5 million kickback from Jacob Kiferbaum who wanted their construction work, the Tribune reports. After the intervention of Levine, the planning board approved the proposal, which it had previously denied.

Two attorneys for the TRS are also subjects of the investigation, according to the Tribune. Steven Loren, with the Gardner, Carton, and Douglas law firm, resigned due to the investigation. Joseph Cari, Jr., with the law firm of Ungaretti & Harris, took a leave of absence.