Convicted Criminal Canned from FL Consulting Contract

Fixing our pension, Mike?  Howzabout stopping the state wasting the hard earned pensions of state workers on shady real estate deals?

[TALLAHASSEE — Senate President Mike Haridopolos on Friday abruptly fired a consultant tied to an Alabama banking scandal, a day after the Orlando Sentinel disclosed his contract.

The Merritt Island Republican said in a statement Friday that although Winter Park consultant Charles LeCroy had served his time for a corruption probe in Pennsylvania, the potential for further federal legal action against him in connection with an Alabama bribery case could prove to be a distraction.

LeCroy was sentenced to six months in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud for engaging in a scheme to make payments to obtain municipal-bond business from the city of Philadelphia, on behalf of JPMorgan.

Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican, hired THGC Consulting LLC, a Winter Park-based shell company established this year, for a $90,000 consulting contract in November to provide advice on how to cut costs of the pension system, which has assets of $120 billion-plus. More on that here....

”While his criminal case has been resolved, I do not wish to have the outstanding civil case become a distraction to the hard work we must perform fixing our pension system and balancing Florida’s budget,” Haridopolos said in a statement.]  emphasis added

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/12/haridopolos-fires-consultant-tied-to-alabama-banking-scandal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+news/politics/politicalpulse+(Central+Florida+Political+Pulse)]  emphasis added

FL Pension Frauds

Lose a $ million here, $ 250 million in another idiotic real estate deal there, and it means the state of FL MUST cut contracted pension benefits for state employees.  Jeepers, JEB! must feel so proud.

[Doing one thing privately then saying another thing publicly is no way to build trust in a government agency with an already tarnished image. But that is exactly what Ash Williams, who oversees investments in Florida's pension fund, has been caught doing. The decision now for Williams' new bosses — who campaigned on reforming the State Board of Administration — is whether they have the same confidence in Williams as the outgoing governor, chief financial officer and attorney general.

When questions arose five months ago about the pension plan's $100 million investment with a South Florida mortgage company with ties to Williams, the executive director of the SBA told his bosses there was nothing untoward. He claimed staff members were considering a deal before he arrived on the job. What Williams did not disclose: The SBA staff and outside consultants had repeatedly rejected overtures from affiliates of Bayview Financial Holdings, and a deal only gained traction after Williams intervened on Bayview's behalf.

Williams has contended his personal connections to Bayview in no way influenced the SBA's investment in June. He formerly worked at a New York investment firm, Fir Tree Partners, where Bayview's owners are clients and Williams is also an investor. He argued his Wall Street savvy — rather than being a conflict of interest — ensured the agency was making a wise investment for pension beneficiaries.

But government documents obtained by St. Petersburg Times staff writer Sydney P. Freedberg under Florida's open records law paint a far fuller view of Williams' role in the deal. The public record suggests a leader disinclined to follow the very SBA investment procedures he so proudly touts publicly.

For 16 months, SBA staff members had repeatedly deflected overtures from Bayview employees and placement agents. They raised concerns about excess fees, and outside consultants expressed serious reservations about Bayview's experience. But in April 2009, a Fir Tree partner contacted Williams and promoted Bayview. Within a month, Williams scheduled a meeting with Bayview in his office, alerting his subordinates just the night before. Within two weeks after that meeting, SBA staffers had drafted an "approval memo" for a $100 million investment in Bayview that borrowed heavily from Bayview marketing materials and lacked a full discussion of the firm's litigation, reference checks and consultants' views.

While it took another year for the deal to be signed, Williams continued to be involved, including visiting Bayview. Even as the SBA staff continued to raise concerns about Bayview's operation, the deal was signed in June.

Rather than acknowledge the full chain of events when Freedberg began asking questions last year, Williams deflected, telling SBA trustees Gov. Charlie Crist, CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum that he considered Freedberg's inquiry an attack on his personal integrity. He also suggested publicly that SBA staff members were the driving force behind the deal. Public records refute that.

If Williams' personal integrity was not the issue before, it is now. He was hired after the SBA staff had been caught misleading local government investors in the 2007 subprime mortgage meltdown. His job was to reform the agency and restore trust with the public. His lack of disclosure in the Bayview case indicates neither goal has been met. The next board of trustees — incoming Gov. Rick Scott, CFO Jeff Atwater and Attorney General Pam Bondi — will have to decide if they trust Williams to tell them the truth about how he and the SBA conduct business. If not, they should show him the door.]  emphasis added

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article1142668.ece

FL Senate President Hires Convicted Criminal

Senate President Mike Haridopolos just figured he might as well hire a convicted crook to loot the state pension fund  Who else would have convicted experience of fraud?

[Bad judgment

What on Earth was Senate President Mike Haridopolos thinking when he hired a firm with ties to a legally compromised consultant — to advise him no less on reforming the Florida Retirement System?

He was thinking that Charles LeCroy "is an expert in the field," said a Haridopolos spokesman — never mind that Mr. LeCroy was sentenced to six months in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud for engaging in a scheme to obtain municipal-bond business from the city of Philadelphia.

Then there is the massive Jefferson County, Ala., bribes-for-bonds investigation involving Mr. LeCroy. The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing a civil case against Mr. LeCroy concerning that one.

Well, that could become a "distraction," Mr. Haridopolos said after the Sentinel reported on it. So last week Mr. Haridopolos asked for Mr. LeCroy's resignation.

We've often called for reforming the state's pension system. But with $120 billion and the future of thousands of retirees at stake, it's astonishing that Mr. Haridopolos would be so reckless in his choice of advisers.]  emphasis added

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-haridopolos-bad-hire-123010-20101229,0,406831.story