Massachusetts Retirement System Tries to Block PERAC Suit

May 5, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The board of Massachusetts' largest pension fund has filed a suit against the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) to try to deter an investigation into claims by the state's inspector general that the fund fabricated bids for the construction of its new headquarters.

According to the Boston Globe, PERAC is soon scheduled to have a meeting on the future of Middlesex Retirement Board officials after the state’s Inspector General, Gregory Sullivan, filed a report that accused the board of creating false documents (See Massachusetts May Remove Pension Fund Board ).

The “fabricated” bids were to ensure that the contract for the reconstruction of the new Middlesex headquarters went to a contractor close to two board members,

The suit by filed by Middlesex questions whether Sullivan even has the authority to investigate the matter, as public pension funds are not subject to the state’s fair bidding laws, the Globe reported. Sullivan claims that the retirement board’s fabrication of documents was unlawful, even if its alleged nepotism in awarding construction contracts was not.

In his report Sullivan, noted that: “Noexemption from any law gives license to create false documents designed to give the impression of a competitive process.”

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