bill-richardson-official-photo3SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday refused to answer whether he had met to discuss an investment with the son of a friend prior to the state’s decision to sink $90 million into the deal.

An attorney for Marc Correra, the son of the governor’s friend and the individual marketing the investment in question, also declined to say whether the two men had met prior to the state’s investment.

No one, in fact, is saying whether the governor met with Correra prior to the state’s decision to invest $90 million with Vanderbilt Financial Trust. The state lost the entire $90 million after the deal went sour.

Richardson was asked Wednesday during a Capitol press conference if he had met with Correra, who is the son of Anthony Correra.

It was the third time the Independent has tried to get an answer from the governor or his press office about whether the two men had met to discuss the investment prior to the state’s decision. The Independent inquired with a Richardson spokesman several weeks ago. Richardson ignored the same question two weeks ago after a press conference at the Capitol.

“Look,” Richardson said in response to Wednesday’s question. “Yesterday in the State Investment Council I led the effort to fire Aldus, to ban third-party marketers, to have an audit jointly done by the Legislature and the Finance Authority. There is a federal investigation, a national investigation, going on. I am not privy to any of those details.”

But did you meet with Correra prior to the investment, he was asked again.

“That’s all I’m going to say,” the governor responded.

Correra’s attorney in New Mexico, Sam Bregman, also declined to answer the question, saying “I’m not going to answer any factual questions… Marc Correra has done absolutely nothing wrong,” Bregman added.

Correra has drawn the interest of state lawmakers because of the $16 million or so that he has shared in finders’ fees as a third-party marketer on dozens of state investment deals involving the State Investment Council and Educational Retirement Board over the past half-dozen years, including the one involving Vanderbilt Financial Trust.

Marc Correra is listed in a state document provided by Educational Retirement Board as having marketed two investment deals for the Chicago-based firm.

The state’s $90 million loss is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a former investment officer at the Educational Retirement Board. The former officer, Frank Foy, has alleged that there was a pay-to-play culture in how the state made investments and cited the Vanderbilt deal in particular. Officers at the State Investment Council and Educational Retirement Board, as well as Richardson administration officials, have vigorously denied Foy’s allegations.

Third-party marketers, until recently, were obscure figures in the investment world who acted as matchmakers between private equity and hedge funds and states looking for a good return on their money. Officials have said the agents played a legitimate role.

While Correra has not been accused of any wrongdoing, the spotlight trained on him has coincided with questions that have arisen over the role of third-party marketing agents in some New Mexico investment deals. A meeting between Richardson and Correra before the Vanderbilt investment was made also could raise questions about how involved the governor or his office actually was in the decision to invest the state’s money with the firm.

The concerns about third-party marketers were prompted by a criminal probe in New York that unearthed what that state’s attorney general said were questionable practices here in New Mexico.

Among the allegations were that the founder of New Mexico’s former financial adviser, Aldus Equity, helped the son of the New York state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, win a lucrative contract in New Mexico for a firm he was representing in return for Aldus’ increased business in New York, according to a criminal complaint. At the time, the comptroller’s son, Dan Hevesi, was acting as a third-party marketer. Aldus’ founder, Saul Meyer, has been charged in the New York criminal probe.

The charges against Meyer throw into question whether Aldus — which as the state’s investment adviser was supposed to vet the safety and risk factor of state investments — had always acted in New Mexico’s best interest, New Mexico officials said.

As a result of Aldus’ role in the New York scandal, the FBI has already questioned officials from the State Investment Council and Educational Retirement Board about the Dallas-based firm. Both state agencies, meanwhile, have received subpoenas.

The state has since fired Aldus.

Meanwhile, a California man who shared in $1.5 million in placement fees in New Mexico investment deals has pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the ever-expanding New York criminal probe.

Julio Ramirez is cooperating with the criminal investigation of what New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has called a “matrix of corruption.”

New Mexico state records show that Ramirez on two occasions shared $700,000 in placement fees with Marc Correra.

On Tuesday, the State Investment Council voted to not invest state funds with money managers who use third-party marketing agents.