Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system gave a little more detail Thursday about a federal probe, saying the agency received a subpoena, although it stayed silent about subpoenas said to have been received by top management officials.
Officials at the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and board members — who include state lawmakers, two members of Gov. Tom Wolf’s Cabinet and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity — have declined to answer questions publicly about what information federal investigators are seeking.
In a brief statement, the $64 billion pension system said it had been served with a grand jury subpoena for documents and that it is cooperating fully with the request by the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia.
Pension system officials have said nothing about Tuesday's revelation by Garrity that federal subpoenas were served on “several PSERS management officials.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia has declined comment.
Word of a federal investigation comes a month after the pension system's board revealed that it had approved an errant calculation of the fund’s investment performance that helps determine the balance of payments into the system by taxpayers and school employees.
The board said it is investigating the risk-sharing calculation, as well as actions by pension system staff and the consultant who made the calculation.
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