SLIDESHOW: Face Scrubbers, Balloon Trips: 16 at CalPERS Face Fines for Alleged Gift Violations
Sixteen California Public Employees Retirement System employees and former employees reached a preliminary settlement to pay fines for allegedly receiving but not properly reporting a slew of gifts that included a face scrubber, a hot air balloon ride and tickets to the Rose Bowl Game. The value of the gifts in question rarely exceeds the low three figures. The largest fine is a relatively modest $3,600. But the humiliation factor? (Priceless.) The list of alleged gift policy violators was made public by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. These penalties are slated to be finalized at a meeting of the FPPC on September 22nd. Recall that the FPPC initially investigated CalPERS employees back in May 2011, following even more severe charges by federal and state authorities alleging that former CalPERS Chief Executive Federico Buenrostro and others on CalPERS's private equity team were wined, dined and sent on luxurious trips at the invitation of Alfred Villalobos, a placement agent and former CalPERS board member who was working on behalf of Apollo Global Management. Villalobos and Buenrostro still face a state level lawsuit, and are also being investigated by federal authorities.
