CalPERS, like many LPs, turned hesitant toward venture during the recent global recession. But the pension fund followed more free spending ways just prior to the slowdown, with commitments in 2006, 2007 and 2008 doubling or more. These mid-decade vintage years saw the California Public Employees’ Retirement System — the nation’s largest public pension fund [...]

SHANGHAI, April 21 (Reuters) – Chinese online video website Tudou Holdings is still planning to go public in the United States and is on schedule for its listing, a company spokeswoman told Reuters, after rumors circulated in the market that the company could be up for sale to a rival.

The company’s backers include Temasek Holdings, IDG Technology Venture Investment, Granite Global Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Jafco Asia, KTB Ventures and JAIC….

Ever since the Canopy Financial scandal broke last month, there has been lots of speculation about existing investors cashing out during the company’s July financing round. peHUB has now learned that $40 million of the $62.5 million deal was used as liquidity for Granite Global Ventures, Canopy board member John Powers (CEO of Stanford Management Co.) and Canopy’s three co-founders. Of that, GGV took the lion’s share with $27.5 million.

It’s time for them to give the money back.

As Deb reports below, over 1,000 people have had their Health Savings Accounts frozen because of the Canopy fraud. This mean sick people could be unable to access money saved for the purpose of paying medical bills. They may get the cash back eventually — via bankruptcy proceedings — but that’s cold comfort to someone who is ill or injured right now.

I’m told that one large healthcare administrator is making its clients good in the meantime, but it is an exception to to rule. Everyone else is just out of luck, and the FDIC doesn’t care because a failed bank isn’t involved.

This is open enrollment season for healthcare plans, and Canopy’s customers are scrambling to find a replacement for Canopy’s software to get them through it, according to Red Gillen, an analyst at Celent who follows the banking industry.

Canopy’s customers had been very happy with the software until reports broke last week that Canopy had falsified financial statements, Gillen said. They’re telling him they did their due diligence on Canopy and — like a lot of other people, apparently — were taken by surprise.

In a report published in January, another Celent analyst, Bart Narter, rated Canopy’s technology as the best in the industry — better than several older, larger competitors’ — and he said today he stands by that recommendation.

Two executives of Canopy Financial have left the company in the wake of accusations of financial fraud, a Canopy spokesman confirmed today.

President and chief operating officer Jeremy Blackburn has resigned, and chief technology officer Tony Banas has been placed on administrative leave. So far, peHUB has been unable to reach either one of them for comment.

CEO Vikram Kashyap released a statement yesterday through his attorney, saying that he had “no prior knowledge whatsoever of any fraud regarding Canopy’s financial statements” and that he “relied on financial and legal professionals in accepting the authenticity of the company’s financials.” Although Kashyap has stepped down as CEO of Canopy, he said he will remain as chairman to help hold any fraudsters accountable.

The spokesman also said that Canopy has informed its customers and investors of the fraud allegations and continues

Eight years ago, Vikram Kashyap left his job as an associate with Battery Ventures, in order to get the type of operating experience he felt was required to become a “world class” investor. After stops at eMeta and American Express, Kashyap launched Canopy Financial, a company whose technology helps streamline the administration of Health Savings Accounts. Canopy raised over $88 million in VC funding, including $62.5 million this past summer from Spectrum Equity Investors and return backer Foundation Capital.

Today, Kashyap is unemployed and Canopy executives are likely to face both criminal and civil accusations of fraud (although no charges have yet been filed).

As first reported this morning by TechCrunch, Canopy Financial appears to have largely been a facade. Its technology is real, but many of its tax statements, customer records and financial results were bogus. Sources tell peHUB that the company laid off approximately 100 of its 120 employees last Thursday, after an investor audit showed signs of severe impropriety.

“The entire company thought everything was going great until two or three weeks ago,” says a former employee who asked not to be identified. “Once that [audit] happened things moved very fast. The last week in our office was like going to a funeral.”