Between 2005 and 2009, the State of Illinois didn’t disclose the state’s massively underfunded pension obligations to investors when it sold more than 2 billion in municipal bonds. Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the state with securities fraud. If found guilty, every elected and appointed official during that time will spend the rest of their lives in prison. (That’s a joke, of course. But one can dream). Seriously though…what does this all mean-for the state, for the pension system, for the bonds and the bond holders? WBEZ’s Niala Boodhoo explains. Photo: Flikr- Daniel Borman