From Fox 32 Chicago:
Illinois broke federal securities laws and "misled investors" in misstating the true health of the state's depleted pension funds between 2005 and early 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday.The SEC probe came at the request of state Senate Republicans who challenged the assertions of the Blagojevich administration. As for Blago's successor, Pat Quinn, twice he ran as the hair-brained one's running mate--benefiting from the jailbird's dirty money.
The finding of securities fraud doesn't subject Illinois to any fines or penalties, but it represents another fiscal black eye for a state burdened by the worst bond rating in the country and completely underwater by inaction in solving its $96 billion pension crisis.
The SEC finding, the second such action against a state, focuses mostly on misstatements linked to $2.2 billion worth of bond offerings issued during impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration. New Jersey was cited in 2010 for similar disclosure failures regarding pension underfunding in its bond offerings.
"Municipal investors are no less entitled to truthful risk disclosures than other investors," said George S. Canellos, acting director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement in a prepared statement.
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