Pru Partnership Sponsors’ Settlement OKd

A $4.4-million settlement of litigation between investors of Prudential Securities Inc.’s limited partnerships and sponsors of those investments won court approval. In the early 1990s, Prudential investors filed class-action suits against the securities unit of Prudential Insurance Co. of America and companies that helped the Newark, N.J.-based firm sell and run risky limited partnerships. The suits said Prudential and the limited-partnership sponsors duped investors into thinking the investments were safe instead of high-risk. The settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack in Manhattan brings to a close Prudential’s problematic dealings with limited partnerships from 1980 to 1991. While Prudential settled fraud charges by paying $330 million in 1993, suits alleging violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act continued against its partners in the investments until now. The limited partnership sponsors, like Prudential, denied any wrongdoing.