Ex-chief of auto task force accused of pension kickbacks

DETROIT — New York Attorney General and Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits against Steven Rattner, former head of President Barack Obama’s auto task force, alleging he paid kickbacks to obtain $150 million from a large state pension fund to be invested in Quadrangle Group.

Separately, Rattner, who is aggressively promoting his book “Overhaul,” which chronicles the government-backed bankruptcies of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission under which he will pay $6.2 million and accept a two-year ban on “associating with any investment advisor or broker dealer.”

“Rattner delivered special favors and conducted sham transactions that corrupted the Retirement Fund’s investment process,” said David Rosenfeld, associate director of the SEC’s New York regional office.

Cuomo is driving a harder bargain. He wants Rattner to pay at least $26 million and be banned from the securities industry in New York for life.