(Reuters) - A second person pleaded guilty in a kickback scandal involving New York state's $122 billion pension fund, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.
Former Wetherly Capital Group associate Julio Ramirez pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge, which Cuomo said stemmed from "corrupt arrangements" between Ramirez and Henry Morris, a top fund-raiser for New York state's former comptroller.
Ramirez and Morris were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars from multiple deals with the New York state pension fund, the Democratic attorney general said in a statement.
Cuomo, whose probe has been joined by the Securities and Exchange Commission and 36 other states, said: "This investigation has uncovered a matrix of corruption, which grows more expansive and interconnected by the day."
The probe, already linked to New Mexico and California public pensions, is scrutinizing a web of investment firms and the placement agents, lawyers, and lobbyists whom the firms hire to help them get selected to manage public pension funds.
Former hedge fund manager Barrett Wissman pleaded guilty to a felony in the kickback scheme in mid-April.
Ramirez's lawyer said in a statement that his client had "accepted responsibility for violating New York's Martin Act several years ago and is cooperating with the New York State Attorney General's office in its investigation."
The Martin Act is the state securities law, and the lawyer added his client wished to apologize to his friends and family.
On Tuesday, the SEC charged Ramirez with seeking kickbacks from Dallas-based Aldus Equity Partners and taking part in a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme with New York's pension fund.
SEC cases are often filed with the court as settled cases, but both parties must agree to any settlements, and a source familiar with the issues said Ramirez was in the process of reaching a settlement with the SEC. "It's just a timing issue on their end," said the source, who requested anonymity.
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