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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Timothy Geithner aides paid millions by Wall Street firms

Timothy Geithner's aides have been paid millions of dollars by a variety of Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, according to financial disclosure forms.

The treasury secretary has been tasked with cleaning up Wall Street but it has emerged his key advisors have been earning money from the institutions they are helping to regulate.

Aide Lee Sachs took more than $3 million in partnership income and salary from New York hedge fund Mariner Investment Group, while advisor Gene Sperling was paid almost $900,000 by Goldman Sachs last year, reports Bloomberg.

Mr Sperling was also paid more than $150,000 for a variety of speeches he gave to different financial institutions, including the firm run by alleged fraudster Allen Stanford.

Last week, a Freedom of Information request revealed that Mr Geithner has been taking calls from top Wall Street figures before meetings with members of Congress and after meeting with Barack Obama.

The investigation by the Associated Press revealed that Mr Geithner has had more contact with Citigroup than with Barney Frank, the congressman in charge of promoting Mr Geithner's plan to overhaul the regulatory system.

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