Crime

Ex-CalPERS chief pleads guilty to bribery

A former head of the nation's largest public pension fund has pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud in California.

Federico Buenrostro Jr., former chief executive of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, entered his plea Friday in federal court in San Francisco.

Signage stands outside the offices of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) in Sacramento, California.
Ken James | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Authorities say Buenrostro acknowledged accepting $200,000 in cash and casino chips from Alfred Villalobos, a Lake Tahoe, California, investment manager who also served on the CalPERS board.

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Buenrostro said he used his influence with the CalPERS board to make investment decisions beneficial to Villalobos' clients.

Buenrostro was CEO of CalPERS from late 2002 through June 2008. Villalobos also paid for Buenrostro's wedding and hosted it at his home in 2004.

Villalobos has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges and other related counts.

—By The Associated Press