A New York hedge fund manager was accused of bribing the head of New York City’s corrections officers’ union with a Ferragamo bag stuffed with $60,000 in cash to secure a $20 million pension investment.

Murray Huberfeld, 55, a manager at Platinum Partners LP, and Norman Seabrook, 56, the union chief, were charged Wednesday for the two-year scheme that began in November 2013, according a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. Huberfeld was described by the government as a co-founder of the hedge fund who secretly helped run its daily operations.

Prosecutors wiretapped a cooperating witness’s phone to gather evidence against the men. The witness, who hasn’t been identified by prosecutors, acted as an intermediary between the men and was allegedly told by the union boss when the scheme began that it was time “Norman Seabrook got paid,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told reporters Wednesday.

Seabrook “made decisions how to invest the nest egg for thousands of hard-working public servants, based not on what was good for them, but on what was good for Norman Seabrook,” Bharara said.

Chief’s Fight

Seabrook’s lawyer  Paul Shechtman said the labor chief would fight the charges.

“Norman Seabrook has spent his life fighting for corrections officers. One should not expect him to stop fighting now,” Shechtman said.

Huberfeld’s lawyer, Eliot Lauer, declined to comment on the case. Mark Nordlicht, one of Platinum’s founders, didn’t return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment about the charges.

Huberfeld was allegedly introduced to Seabrook in 2013 by the cooperating witness who was aware that the fund manager was attempting to attract new investors beyond the high-net-worth individuals who typically invested in the fund, prosecutors said. The witness has pleaded guilty and is helping the government with its case.

Payment Deal

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