FEDS PROBE FIRING OF MASSMUTUAL CEO:

Federal prosecutors are investigating the conduct that led to the firing of former MassMutual Insurance Comany chief executive Robert J. O’Connell, the company disclosed in court documents.

The company acknowledged the federal probe as part of a complaint, filed in Hartford Superior Court, that seeks to stop Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal from releasing MassMutual’s internal investigative reports into O’Connell’s actions. In its complaint, the Springfield, Mass.-based life insurance company cited criminal investigations being conducted by Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts as a reason to keep the reports confidential.

In firing O’Connell in June, the company accused him of engaging in a “systematic and pervasive pattern of willful abuse of authority,” and “willful gross misconduct.” The company also said he had used unauthorized trading techniques to boost the value of a supplemental retirement fund and bought a company-owned condominium in Florida at a below-market price.

O’Connell has vowed to fight his dismissal, saying virtually every accusation is unsubstantiated.