NYS Pay to Play Update

A hedge fund placement agent secretly entered a guilty plea two months ago in connection with the pay to play deals undertaken by Hank Morris and former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's office. The deal was kept under wraps because Julio Ramirez was cooperating with NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation.

A former state pension fund "placement agent" secretly pleaded guilty two months ago to kicking back fees to Hank Morris, former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi's political guru, and is cooperating in the far-reaching probe, it was revealed yesterday.

Attorney General Cuomo said former Wetherly Capital Group agent Julio Ramirez of Los Angeles pleaded guilty on March 5 to one count of misdemeanor securities fraud for secretly giving the already-indicted Morris $250,000, or 40 percent of the fees he earned helping Wetherly place $50 million from the state's Common Retirement Fund with two investment-management firms.

Ramirez admits to receiving kickbacks from Morris between 2003 and 2006 in order to secure a deal between the state and Wetherly.