A good Chicago Tribune article on Daley and our pension!
Pension probe: Inspector eyes Daley ties
City Hall's inspector general has begun investigating how at least three city pension funds came to make investments with a firm co-owned by a nephew of Mayor Richard Daley, the Tribune has learned.
The office of Inspector General David Hoffman has subpoenaed records from the pension funds dealing with their investments of tens of millions of dollars in DV Urban Realty Partners, a real estate investment firm formed by a top Daley ally, Allison Davis, and Daley nephew Robert Vanecko.
The office of Inspector General David Hoffman has subpoenaed records from the pension funds dealing with their investments of tens of millions of dollars in DV Urban Realty Partners, a real estate investment firm formed by a top Daley ally, Allison Davis, and Daley nephew Robert Vanecko.
The inspector general requested records on those investments from the funds for municipal employees, police and laborers, according to a source. The pension funds have paid the investment group hundreds of thousands of dollars in management or consulting fees.
Hoffman's investigators are seeking details on the property DV Urban Realty acquired using the pension funds' money, according to a subpoena obtained by the Tribune.
The inspector general's office also subpoenaed information that the pension funds' trustees reviewed before investing with DV Urban Realty, suggesting investigators are trying to learn how the decisions were made and whether they were influenced by Vanecko's relationship with the mayor, the source said.
Davis and Vanecko could not be reached. Hoffman declined to comment.
Davis and Vanecko began DV Urban Realty to do development projects in neglected areas.
Vanecko's city business ties were an issue in late 2007, when it was reported that he and Daley's son, Patrick, had obtained a stake in a sewer business that had contracts with the city. The company failed to disclose Daley and Vanecko's ownership interest in economic disclosure statements filed with the city, as required by city ordinance.
Police pension fund executive director John Gallagher said that DV Urban Realty so far had drawn $5 million on the fund's original $15 million commitment; as of the end of last year, that $5 million investment was valued at $3.5 million. He declined further comment.
Terrance Stefanski, executive director of the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund, declined to comment, as did Fred Heiss, general counsel of the Laborers' and Retirement Board Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund. The two declined to disclose how much the funds had committed to DV Urban Realty. The Municipal Employees' pension paid $225,000 in management fees in 2007.
The city teachers' pension fund paid more than $300,000 in management fees to DV Urban Realty in 2007, the fund's annual report states. But it's unclear if the inspector general subpoenaed its records. Kevin Huber, the fund's executive director, could not be reached.
--Steve Mills and Dan Mihalopolous
Hoffman's investigators are seeking details on the property DV Urban Realty acquired using the pension funds' money, according to a subpoena obtained by the Tribune.
The inspector general's office also subpoenaed information that the pension funds' trustees reviewed before investing with DV Urban Realty, suggesting investigators are trying to learn how the decisions were made and whether they were influenced by Vanecko's relationship with the mayor, the source said.
Davis and Vanecko could not be reached. Hoffman declined to comment.
Davis and Vanecko began DV Urban Realty to do development projects in neglected areas.
Vanecko's city business ties were an issue in late 2007, when it was reported that he and Daley's son, Patrick, had obtained a stake in a sewer business that had contracts with the city. The company failed to disclose Daley and Vanecko's ownership interest in economic disclosure statements filed with the city, as required by city ordinance.
Police pension fund executive director John Gallagher said that DV Urban Realty so far had drawn $5 million on the fund's original $15 million commitment; as of the end of last year, that $5 million investment was valued at $3.5 million. He declined further comment.
Terrance Stefanski, executive director of the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund, declined to comment, as did Fred Heiss, general counsel of the Laborers' and Retirement Board Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund. The two declined to disclose how much the funds had committed to DV Urban Realty. The Municipal Employees' pension paid $225,000 in management fees in 2007.
The city teachers' pension fund paid more than $300,000 in management fees to DV Urban Realty in 2007, the fund's annual report states. But it's unclear if the inspector general subpoenaed its records. Kevin Huber, the fund's executive director, could not be reached.
--Steve Mills and Dan Mihalopolous
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