Illinois teachers' pension fund probed

CHICAGO, July 26 (UPI) -- The federal government is investigating possible kickbacks from investments by the $34 billion Illinois Teachers' Retirement System, a report said Tuesday.

Federal investigators began issuing subpoenas five weeks ago concerning more than $1 billion in state Teachers' Retirement System, or TRS, investments in private-equity investment companies -- including one with ties to Democratic power broker and Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Investigators also examined consulting fees and possible kickbacks.

Subpoenas include two issued to former TRS board members Stuart Levine and John Glennon. The two were indicted this year in a kickback scheme involving Chicago area hospital and medical school construction projects. Both denied wrongdoing.

Cari was a managing partner and board member of HealthPoint Capital, a New York investment firm in which the Illinois teachers' pension fund invested $35 million when Levine and Glennon were on the TRS board, the newspaper reported.