Alfred Villalobos, a former board member for the California
Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) implicated in a pay-to-play
scheme, has reportedly committed suicide ahead of next month’s trial.
A CalPERS spokesperson confirmed his death, which the Reno Police Department has deemed an apparent suicide, according to several local media outlets.
Villalobos, 71, was due to stand trial starting February 23 on federal corruption and bribery charges. In November, he pleaded not guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and defraud the United States, conducting a false scheme, and mail and wire fraud.
However, Fred Buenrostro, former CEO of the $293 billion pension fund, confessed to taking more than $250,000 in bribes from Villalobos. Buenrostro is due to be sentenced in May.
“We remain focused on supporting enforcement authorities as they pursue bringing to justice those who broke the law and violated the trust placed in them by the public employees of California,” the CalPERS spokesperson told CIO.
The late former board member had acted as a placement agent for several large private equity firms including Apollo Global Management, which has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
“Villalobos and Buenrostro created a series of fraudulent investor disclosure letters in order to satisfy Apollo's record-keeping obligations.”Between August 2007 and April 2008, CalPERS invested approximately $3 billion in several Apollo funds. Villalobos’ firm ARVCO Capital Research received $14 million in placement fees for these allocations, according to state prosecutors.
Before paying placement agents, Apollo required signed letters from its investors confirming they were aware of the arrangement and ensuing fees. According to court documents, CalPERS’ in-house counsel and a senior portfolio manager in its private equity division refused to sign the letter.
“Villalobos and Buenrostro created a series of fraudulent investor disclosure letters in order to satisfy Apollo’s record-keeping obligations… and to ensure ARVCO’s receipt of commission fees from Apollo,” the indictment stated. During a 2012 civil lawsuit over the scandal, prosecutors alleged that Villalobos repeatedly lied under oath about falsifying the documents.
On Tuesday, according to the Sacramento Bee, authorities believe Villalobos shot himself at an indoor shooting range in Reno.
Calls to the Reno Police Department for confirmation and additional details were not returned by time of publication.
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