A US federal judge has thrown out charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against three former officials of Putnam Fiduciary Trust Company (PFTC) over allegations they defrauded a retirement plan client and Putnam mutual funds of about $4 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Putnam officials dismissed from the suit were Virginia Papa, a former managing director and director of defined contribution servicing; Kevin Crain, a managing director who had responsibility for PFTC’s plan administration unit; and Sandra Childs, a former managing director who had overall responsibility for PFTC’s compliance department.
Gorton ruled that the SEC’s complaint “makes only vague allusions regarding the involvement of these defendants.” The SEC alleges that Putnam mistakenly allowed a one-day delay in investing funds for the retirement plan of Cardinal Health Inc. in 2001.