Oregon Aims to Join UBS Fraud Suit

April 2, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The state of Oregon has filed court papers requesting to join an existing securities fraud case against Swiss bank UBS to recover more than $25 million it said was lost by the Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF).

In announcing the court filing, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said the PERF losses followed allegations the bank was involved in a tax evasion scheme, according to the Oregon Statesman Journal .

“We’re talking about some substantial losses that occurred after they began revealing what they’d been up to,” James Sinks, a spokesman for Oregon State Treasurer   Ben Westlund, told the newspaper

UBS also is accused in the lawsuit (see  Pension Fund Sues UBS ) of not truthfully disclosing its participation in the subprime mortgage market.

According to the newspaper, UBS stock traded above $66 in 2007, but the price began to drop in 2008 as the allegations were made public. The stock closed at $9.89 Wednesday.

UBS entered into a settlement in February with the U.S. government to head off a likely indictment. The company confessed that it had funneled assets from thousands of wealthy Americans out of the U.S. UBS paid $780 million to settle the case.

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