Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Preliminary hearing begins for former pension board members

Prosecutors will lay out their evidence this morning against six former San Diego pension trustees. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has charged the six with felony conflict-of-interest violations for

Prosecutors will lay out their evidence this morning against six former San Diego pension trustees. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has charged the six with felony conflict-of-interest violations for casting votes on an issue that they stood to gain from financially. KPBS Reporter Amita Sharma has more.

The six former trustees are accused of letting the city off the hook for a balloon payment into the pension system in 2002. And in return, according to court documents, the six cut a deal that boosted their future retirement checks by thousands of dollars.

The deal came at a time when the retirement system was already in the hole by hundreds of millions of dollars. Thomas Jefferson Law School Professor David Steinberg.

Advertisement

Steinberg: "What's unusual about this case, is that these members of the pension board were voting themselves pension increases that were really quite lucrative at a time when they were aware that the pension system itself overall was underfunded."

The preliminary hearing is expected to last between three to six weeks. Amita Sharma, KPBS News.