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Pay to Play Pension Scandal

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Would it surprise you that there were some bad actors making pay to play deals involving the third largest pension? I’ve scratched the surface for you and shady pension practices here, here and here, and the hits keep coming. Justin Baer reports in The Wall Street Journal:

The day after federal prosecutors accused former New York state pension executive Navnoor Kang of taking bribes, the giant retirement system fired another employee in connection with the case, said people familiar with the matter.

The New York Common Retirement Fund escorted Philip Hanna from the pension’s Albany offices on Dec. 22 without giving him a reason for his termination, these people said. Mr. Hanna reported to Mr. Kang, and the two were close friends, they said. The men were college classmates at the University of Texas’ Arlington campus and later started their own spirits company called Secrets Vodka LLC, according to these people and state filings.

U.S. prosecutors allege that Mr. Kang hid laptops containing evidence of his crimes at the home of a colleague. That colleague—identified in the indictment as “co-conspirator 1”—was Mr. Hanna, according to the people familiar with the case. Last month, the federal judge presiding over Mr. Kang’s case wrote in a court filing that prosecutors planned to reveal information found on computers “recovered from the residence of the individual identified as `CC-1,’ which were obtained pursuant to search warrants.”

Read more here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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