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Placement firm boss earned millions after CalPERS investmentNov 04, 2009 (The Sacramento Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Alfred Villalobos, the controversial businessman at the heart of a pension fund corruption probe, earned some $9.6 million in fees after CalPERS invested hundreds of millions of dollars with a real estate firm with deep ties to downtown Sacramento. The payments were disclosed in a series of documents released today by the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The documents say CIM Group of Los Angeles, which has been active in downtown Sacramento redevelopment, paid Villalobos' placement agent firm $9.6 million since 2000. CIM also paid Villalobos' firm, Arvco Capital Research, approximately $6 million for securing investment dollars from California's other big public pension fund, the California State Teachers' Retirement System. A CalSTRS spokeswoman, Sherry Reser, confirmed that the pension fund has invested with CIM but had no information on any role Villalobos may have played. The new documents show that Villalobos, a one-time CalPERS board member, has made a total of about $60 million representing private-equity firms, real estate groups and other clients who've obtained investment dollars from CalPERS. In mid-October CalPERS announced it was conducting a "special review" of Villalobos' activities. The Bee reported this week that Villalobos hosted the 2004 wedding of then-CalPERS chief executive Fred Buenrostro at Villalobos' Lake Tahoe mansion. Buenrostro, who now works for Villalobos, said he reimbursed his host for the expenses. CalPERS first invested with CIM Group in 2000, following considerable controversy. Villalobos, a one-time CalPERS board member, approached the pension fund on a proposed $250 million investment in CIM, a firm that specialized in urban real estate. In recent years it has developed such projects as the seven-story loft apartments at Eighth and J streets and the K Street complex anchored by the Cosmopolitan theater. According to a report at the time in The Bee, Villalobos was aided by another former CalPERS board member, Kurato Shimada, plus retired state Sen. William Campbell. Shimada wasn't listed in the documents released today by CalPERS. He has since rejoined the CalPERS board. He declined to speak to a reporter today. After considerable discussion, the CalPERS board agreed to a $125 million investment. CalPERS eventually increased its commitment to a total of $405 million. In the documents, CIM said it has been paying Villalobos commission fees since late 2000, with the most recent payment coming in June 2009. In a statement released today, CIM said it initially hired Arvco in 1998 and fired the firm in 2000, before the CalPERS board agreed to any investments. "CIM honored its contractual obligations and paid Arvco in full," the Los Angeles firm said. It said Arvco "has not represented CIM since it was terminated nine years ago." Villalobos couldn't be reached for comment. ------ Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066. Read his blog on the economy, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs. To see more of The Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sacbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |