Probe Clouds Star Turn For Auto Negotiator Rattner

The New York State Common Retirement Fund, then worth $150 billion and overseen by Comptroller Alan Hevesi, was a rich potential investor. Looking for an inside track, Rattner hired one of Hevesi's close advisers, the political consultant Hank Morris, to lobby the comptroller's office for the investment deal.

Quadrangle would ultimately pay Morris more than $1.1 million. It also used him as a so-called "placement agent" in connection with pension fund deals in New York City, Los Angeles and New Mexico.

Around the same time, Rattner sat down for a curious meeting with the unknown producer of a low-budget movie called "Chooch."

The screwball comedy wasn't exactly a hot property. Shot largely with semiprofessional actors, it looked dead after failing to find a distributor. Yet, within weeks, a Quadrangle affiliate had struck a deal with "Chooch" producer Steven Loglisci to pay $88,841 for the rights to the film and release it on DVD.

Three weeks later, Quadrangle was told it would be getting a $150 million infusion from the pension fund, where Loglisci's brother happened to be the chief investment officer.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed criminal charges against David Loglisci and Hank Morris in March, accusing them of working together to extract big payments from several investment firms, including Quadrangle, as a condition of doing business with the retirement system.