March 17, 2009 - 3:15pm
Inside Edge

Who's on first?

Three weeks after Governor Jon Corzine renominated three former Lehman Brothers executives to the State Investment Council, the state has filed a lawsuit against top officials of the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., alleging that "misrepresentations by the company led the Division of Investment in the Department of Treasury to purchase $182 million in Lehman securities in April and June 2008 that resulted in an estimated $118 million in losses."

On February 23, Corzine renominated Jose Claxton, Montgomery Cerf, and Erika Irish Brown - all former Lehman executives -- to the New Jersey State Investment Council, which has lost an estimated $25 billion of state pension funds since July.

"With this suit we intend to hold Lehman executives and directors accountable for the fraud and misrepresentation that caused more than $100 million in losses to New Jersey's pension funds," Corzine said today.

Wally Edge can be reached via email at politicsnj@aol.com.