By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Okla. AG plans probe of pension investments
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is launching an investigation into how various financial institutions are handling state pension investments.
Pruitt said he opened the investigation Thursday after being notified about potential wrongdoing.
Pruitt says he has sent letters to several custodial banks seeking information on investment transactions, particularly those involving foreign currency exchanges. He says similar investigations are underway in California, Virginia and Florida as part of an effort to recover more than $200 million in state pension funds.
According to the state Pension Commission, Oklahoma's major pension systems have investment assets of $21.4 billion.
Oklahoma's largest pension system is the Teachers' Retirement System, which has more than $10 billion in assets. The head of that system, James Wilbanks, says he was not notified about Pruitt's investigation.