I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Educational Retirement Board plans to sue Aldus Equity Partners, the Dallas firm that advised both the ERB and another state investment agency until last year when its founder was indicted and eventually pleaded guilty to securities fraud in New York.
Two legal firms –Albuquerque-based Friedman, Boyd, Hollander as well as Pomerantz & Haudek — have been working months on a possible lawsuit against Aldus, ERB’s counsel Christopher Schatzman told the Independent on Friday.
The agency hired both firms around the end of 2009 after the firms responded to a requests for proposals, Schatzman said.
A lawsuit against Aldus Equity hasn’t been filed. But the agency hopes to file the Aldus suit shortly but is still doing background work in order to go forward with the strongest cases as possible, Schatzman added.
Aldus’ founder, Saul Meyer, pleaded guilty last October to securities fraud in New York. Both the State Investment Council and ERB had terminated their relationships with Aldus and Meyer months before.
In his pleadings in New York Meyer admitted that on numerous occasions, contrary to his fiduciary duty to the state, his company had “recommended proposed investments that were pushed on him by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico.” Meyer went on to say in that statement that he knew “that these politically-connected individuals or their associates stood to benefit financially or politically from the investments and that the investments were not necessarily in the best economic interest of New Mexico.”
Aldus Equity recommended 28 or 29 investments to the ERB, Schatzman said, but the agency only invested in 20.
“The ERB has not been provided the information which funds were pushed by politically connected individuals,” Schatzman said.
