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He drove a hard bargain.
Former Obama administration “car czar” Steven Rattner yesterday walked away from his collision with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by agreeing to a $10 million fine and a five-year ban on appearing before any state-pension funds.
But Rattner, who headed the massive government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, admitted no wrongdoing in the massive “pay-to-play” pension scandal that led to the criminal convictions of former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi and seven others.
The case against Rattner involved $1 million in “sham” fees he allegedly paid ex-Hevesi adviser Hank Morris for a $150 million pension-fund investment with his former Quadrangle Fund private-equity firm.
The $133 billion Common Retirement Fund, which is overseen by the comptroller, manages the pensions of more than a million state workers and retirees.
Rattner’s punishment is a slap on the wrist compared to what Cuomo originally wanted from the ex-Wall Street financier.
Morris, once a leading Democratic political consultant, is awaiting sentencing for pocketing $19 million to steer pension-fund investments in exchange for kickbacks.
He faces up to four years in the slammer, as does Hevesi, who admitted to accepting more than $500,000 in free travel and campaign contributions from California financier Elliott Broidy in exchange for a $250 million pension-fund investment in his venture-capital firm.
Cuomo slapped Rattner with two lawsuits in November after he rejected a $20 million settlement offer from the Attorney General’s Office.
The suits sought to bar Rattner for life from the securities industry in New York and also demanded $26 million in restitution to the state.
“I apologize if during the course of this process there is anything I did that may have made reaching this agreement more difficult,” Rattner said in a statement.
“I respect the work of the attorney general and his staff to ensure that the New York State Common Retirement Fund operates properly and in the best interests of New Yorkers.”
Cuomo, meanwhile, said the settlement closed out “the last major action of our multiyear investigation” into the corruption scandal.
“Through the many cases, pleas and settlements in this investigation, I believe we have been able to help restore and protect the integrity of the state pension fund,” Cuomo said.