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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Former CalPERS Official Accused of Corruption

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A former member of the California Public Employee Retirement System board was indicted Wednesday on federal charges of bribing a CalPERS official and lying to bring millions of dollars to his private company.

The superseding indictment accuses Alfred Villalobos of felony charges of conspiring to commit bribery to defraud the United States, falsely scheming against the United States and conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud.

The superseding indictment adds corruption allegations to an indictment filed in March 2013.

Villalobos, who served on the pension system board from 1992 to 1995, enticed former CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro with a variety of funds and services, including $200,000 cash, jewelry, casino chips and paying for first-class airfare, according to the indictment.

"In exchange, Buenrostro provided Villalobos with access to CalPERS' confidential information relating to investments and other proprietary matters," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Villalobos is the founder of ARVCO Capital Research, a Nevada agency that solicited investments by public pension funds into private equity funds.

The indictment states that after CalPERS invested $3 million in investments at Apollo, a private equity firm in New York, Villalobos and Buenrostro created falsified investment disclosure letters to gain $14 million in placement fees from the firm.

During a government investigation, the pair lied about their financial relationship to each other and about the fake documents, according to the indictment.

Buenrostro, who was charged with one count of conspiracy in July, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators, the Attorney's Office said. Both defendants are out on bond.

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