NJ Firm Settles California Pension Fund Kickback Case

A New Jersey company that manages prescription benefits has agreed to pay $2.7 million to settle an investigation stemming from an influence-peddling case involving California's largest public pension fund.

The California attorney general's office announced Friday that Medco Health Solutions Inc. also has agreed to change its internal procedures.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System did not renew a contract with Medco last year after an investigation revealed the company paid more than $4 million to Alfred Villalobos to help secure a prescription drug contract.

Villalobos is a former CalPERS board member who acted as a middleman to help companies gain contracts with the pension fund. The state attorney general has charged him with setting up a system of kickbacks to gain influence with pension fund executives.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)