COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The panel overseeing South Carolina pension money has rebuffed plans by the attorney general to use outside law firms to monitor investment dealings for fraud.
South Carolina Retirement Investment Commission Chairman Allen Gillespie said Thursday his panel was never told that the plan was in the works and members read about it in news stories.
Commissioners said Wilson's move to engage lawyers sparked unfounded concerns about fraud within the agency.
The idea sparked a squabble between Attorney General Alan Wilson and state Treasurer Curtis Loftis, who argued he would make the call if lawyers were needed to monitor investments. Wilson and Loftis are both Republicans.
Gillespie said they're both wrong. He said the commission already does that and it gets to choose who does legal work.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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