[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued five former San Diego city officials in federal court Monday, alleging they committed securities fraud by failing to disclose funding shortfalls in the city's pension and health care plans to potential buyers and sellers of San Diego's municipal bonds. The SEC press release [text] explains the basis for the charges:

...the five former officials knew that the city had been intentionally under-funding its pension obligations so that it could increase pension benefits but defer the costs. They were aware that the city would face severe difficulty funding its future pension and retiree health care obligations unless new revenues were obtained, pension and health care benefits were reduced, or city services were cut. They specifically knew that the city's unfunded liability to its pension plan was projected to dramatically increase, growing from $284 million at the beginning of fiscal year 2002 to an estimated $2 billion by 2009, and that the city's liability for retiree health care was another estimated $1.1 billion. But the officials failed to disclose these and other material facts to rating agencies or to investors in bond offering documents and continuing disclosures.