Steve “Chooch” Rattner | Another Obama Headache?

You are such a chooch

What’s a “Chooch” worth? More or less than a quick payday loan or debt consolidation?

Ray Werb writes for Jalopnik that Steve Rattner, President Obama’s “car czar” who has been tasked with leading the Obama administration’s efforts to restructure the auto industry, has been named in an SEC investigation. He’s looking like such a chooch right now…

OK, what’s a chooch?

According to UrbanDictionary.com, chooch is a term “derived from the Italian word ciuccio. It is a derogatory term referring to an irritating, less than intelligent person. But what does this have to do with Rattner? More than you might think.

You see, Mr. Rattner is in charge of an investment firm called the Quadrangle Group. According to the SEC, his investment firm paid more than $1 million for the distribution of a movie named “Chooch” in exchange for New York State pension business.

The SEC complaint describes steps Rattner took to win $100 million worth of business from the pension fund in 2005. According to Werb, “that amount accounted for nearly five percent of a Quadrangle private equity fund and helped the company raise money from other investment funds.” What follows is a depiction of events from the New York Times‘ “DealBook” blog:

In October 2004, (Rattner) met with Mr. Loglisci to seek the pension fund investment and Mr. Loglisci “reacted favorably” and “began taking the necessary steps to secure approval” for the investment, the complaint said.

Two months later, in December, the same executive met with Mr. Morris, who, according to prosecutors, was working in tandem with Mr. Loglisci to generate millions of dollars in fees from the investment firms, and within weeks had agreed to a deal to pay an obscure securities firm that employed Mr. Morris 1.1 percent of any money that the retirement fund invested with Quadrangle, as a placement agent fee. That worked out to $1.1 million, of which Mr. Morris received 95 percent.

The timing of the meeting with Mr. Morris was significant, the complaint indicated, because the Quadrangle executive had already met with Mr. Loglisci and would presumably not need a placement agent. In addition, Quadrangle had previously retained a separate placement agent.

The executive also met with Mr. Loglisci about a low-budget movie Mr. Loglisci was producing, “Chooch.” Soon afterward, GT Brands Holdings, a company owned by one of Quadrangle’s private equity funds, made a deal to acquire the DVD distribution rights to “Chooch,” an agreement that made the film’s producers nearly $90,000.

Pay for play

Rattner agreed to help fund “Chooch” in order to get his. Now he’s facing federal investigation – and yet another Obama appointee is garnering bad press. The tag line of “Chooch” is appropriate here:

In the neighborhood of Bocci Park, Queens, God forbid you mess up and someone gives you a nickname. It can stick with you the rest of your life.

If Rattner is convicted of wrongdoing, he’ll be Steve “Chooch” Rattner for the rest of his life for sure.

Related Video: