Key moment in Fidentia saga

Business Day reports that in terms of a plea agreement endorsed by the Cape High Court, he has been sentenced to an effective 10 years in jail. Part of the deal is that he will testify in criminal proceedings against his former associate, Brown. Goodwin, a broker, fled to Australia in early 2007, shortly before the Scorpions began probing the affairs of the asset management company. He was arrested by the FBI at Los Angeles airport in the US in April last year, and launched a protracted legal challenge, which he lost, to the extradition agreement between the US and SA. According to The Times, legal experts now say that Brown, allegedly the kingpin in the R1.4bn Fidentia fraud, faces as much as 25 years in prison if convicted. Graham Maddock, Fidentia's accountant, also made a plea bargain, and, in February last year, was sentenced to seven years for his part in the theft and laundering of funds Fidentia was managing on behalf of investors, including 46 000 widows and orphans. Full Business Day report Full report in The Times See also a Moneyweb report

Elsewhere in the world, pension fund scandals are grabbing the headlines as the global economic crisis results in retirement savings becoming more vulnerable to fraud and plunder by companies, trustees and employees. In the UK, the Pensions Regulator has issued a stern warning on fraud, dishonesty and other efforts to avoid pension obligations, and reminded employees, trustees and pensions professionals of their legal obligation to become a whistle-blower if they become suspicious of any activities. 'Employees and pension scheme members should report any concerns to trustees, whose duty it is to protect their interests. Trustees should contact us,' the regulator is quoted in a Financial Times report as saying. 'The whistle-blowing duty overrides any other duties a reporter may have - such as confidentiality - and any such duty is not breached by making a report,' the regulator said. The warning comes just days after the regulator published details of a previously undisclosed effort by directors of a company, who were also trustees of the scheme of a technically insolvent subsidiary, to strip out the assets of that subsidiary and buy these back in a pre-pack arrangement but without the pension scheme. Full Financial Times report

Taxpayers in the UK and Europe could be asked to plug a £106m black hole in a fund providing a second pension for Members of the European Parliament, to make up for cash lost to fraudulent investment schemes and during the financial crisis. The Daily Telegraph reports that up to half the funds loses are said to stem from investments, via a Luxembourg fund, in schemes linked to Bernard Madoff, the disgraced US financier. However, Chris Davies, a British Liberal Democrat MEP who benefits from the scheme, has opposed the bailout. 'Our constituents are being told by their own pension funds to expect a lot less than they had once been promised,' he said. 'MEPs must take the same kind of hit as the people we represent. It would be shameful to allow the use of public money to fill the hole created by the recession.' Full report in The Daily Telegraph

The inquiry into corruption at the New York State pension fund continues to widen. The New York Times reports that by the time Alan G Hevesi, the former comptroller resigned his office in late 2006, investigators for the Albany County District Attorney's office were examining allegations that Hevesi's associates had sold access to the state's $122bn pension fund, using one of the world's largest pools of assets to reward friends, pay back political favours and reap millions of dollars in cash rewards for themselves. The report notes that in 2007, Attorney-General Andrew M Cuomo's office and then the Securities and Exchange Commission took over the inquiry, which has ballooned into a sprawling investigation involving some of the most prominent players in New York's political and financial worlds. Hundreds of investment firms have been subpoenaed. Three people have been criminally charged and another has pleaded guilty to a felony. And the scandal has grabbed the attention of Wall Street, as members of the investment establishment's top tier now face scrutiny. Full report in The New York Times