Hearing To Determine If Ex-Pension Board Members Should Stand Trial

SAN DIEGO -- Six former San Diego pension trustees return to a Superior courtroom Monday for a preliminary hearing on conflict-of-interest charges.

The defendants -- Ronald Saathoff, John Torres, Terri Webster, Mary Vattimo, Sharon Wilkinson and Cathy Lexin -- are accused of voting to underfund the system while increasing their own benefits.

Saathoff, Lexin and Webster also were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud in a 20-count indictment handed up last Friday by a federal grand jury.

Former pension administrator Lawrence Grissom and pension general counsel Loraine Chapin were also charged in the federal case with devising a scheme to deceive trustees by concealing information about the retirement system, including the fact that Saathoff, president of the city firefighters union, would receive a $25,000 increase if the board enacted the so-called Manager's Proposal #2.

In the state conflict-of-interest case, prosecutors rested their case Dec.14 and defense attorneys have told Superior Court Judge Frederic Link they want to present evidence on their clients' behalf.

At the end of the preliminary hearing, the judge will determine if there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and if the defendants should stand trial.

San Diego's pension system is saddled with at least a $1.4 billion deficit, which has prompted various probes, including an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into the city's failure to properly disclose the scope of the deficit.