Prudential Offers To Settle Claims

Prudential Securities Inc. has offered to pay $20 million to settle some 2,000 claims by investors in soured limited partnership deals, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The settlement would resolve state-court lawsuits filed by investors in the Polaris Aircraft Income Funds, said the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The suits were filed in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Prudential declined comment on the story, citing a confidentiality agreement involving the proposed settlement.

Under the settlement, investors would receive $215 for each $500 unit in the soured Polaris partnerships, while Prudential would keep the partnerships, the newspaper said.

Neither Prudential nor Pat Maloney Jr., a San Antonio lawyer who handled the Polaris lawsuits for investors, would discuss the matter with the Journal.