LOS ANGELES (AP) — Money managers have paid more than $180 million to middlemen as a way to gain investment business from the nation’s largest public pension fund, and at least some of those costs likely ended up being paid by the fund itself through inflated fees.

That’s among the findings in a 56-page report to be presented Tuesday to the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. The review, released to reporters late Monday, is part of the fund’s investigation into alleged wrongdoing by former officials.

A law firm is examining the use of “placement agents,” the middlemen hired by money managers to attract cash from big institutional investors. The state has sued a former chief executive and a placement agent who once was a CalPERS board member, alleging fraud and kickbacks.

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