Former Obama 'car czar' settles suit with state of New York

Former Obama administration "car czar" Steven Rattner has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a civil suit with the state of New York.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced the agreement Thursday, in which Rattner admitted no wrongdoing, The Associated Press reported. Cuomo will be sworn in as the state's governor on Saturday.

Rattner had been accused by Cuomo of participating in a kickback scheme that allowed his company to obtain $150 million in state pension fund investments in 2004 and 2005. Cuomo's office filed suit in November, initially seeking $26 million in fines and penalties, as well as a lifetime ban for Rattner from the securities industry. Rattner, who left the administration in the summer of 2009, denied the charges.

Rattner previously paid $6.2 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a separate lawsuit, and agreed to a two-year ban from the securities industry.

The former New York Times reporter headed the president's effort to restructure General Motors and Chrysler. GM underwent a new initial public offering of its stock in November, which exceeded analysts' expectations and earned the government $13.5 billion after it sold 411 million shares of the company's stock.

The government invested roughly $50 billion in the company last year, and about $23.1 billion has been paid back, according to the Treasury Department.