Yet another corruption cover up by the Feds

Trillions in crooked deals that collapses the American economy,
 defrauds inventors and no one ever goes to jail.

No One Ever Goes To Jail  -  The Feds cover up massive securities fraud in the state of Illinois

• The SEC gives the state a tiny slap on the wrist and tells them to be good boys from now on.
• Both Democrats and Republicans in Illinois are snout deep in crooked shit so both parties are happy bury this story deep, deep in the swamps never to be seen again by an apathetic public.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Illinois with securities fraud, accusing the state of misleading municipal investors over pension fund obligations, the regulatory agency said Monday.

An investigation determined the state failed to inform investors about the impact of problems with its pension funding schedule, the agency said.

Between 2005 and 2009, Illinois sold more than $2.2 billion in municipal bonds but neglected to tell investors that pension obligations were underfunded, reports the Los Angeles Times.

When Illinois enacted a 50-year schedule for making contributions to its pension fund back in 1994, it backloaded the payments it was obligating itself to make so as to reduce its financial burden in the early years. As a result, from the start, planned contributions weren't sufficient to cover the state's eventual pension obligations.

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The corruption took place under both Republican and Democrat Governors.

Over time, this "condition ... worsened" says the SEC, and in particular, it took a turn for the worse when the state enacted certain "pension holidays" in 2005, exempting itself from the obligation to make its regularly scheduled contributions.

“Municipal investors are no less entitled to truthful risk disclosures than other investors," said George S. Canellos, acting director of the SEC's enforcement division. "Time after time, Illinois failed to inform its bond investors about the risk to its financial condition posed by the structural underfunding of its pension system.”

The SEC said problems stemmed from the state's various "institutional failures." The state, for instance, did not have adequately trained personnel involved in the disclosure process.

Beginning in 2009, the state began to correct problems. Illinois settled with the SEC over the securities fraud charge and will not face fines or other penalties.

Illinois is the second state to be charged with securities violations. New Jersey in 2010 was similarly charged with misleading investors about underfunded pension plans.