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 State Investment Council filed state and federal lawsuits Friday against former investment chief Gary Bland and a number of other people involved in alleged pay-to-play schemes. The state alleges they were involved in steering investments to political supporters of former Gov. Bill Richardson.
Former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi will plead guilty today to a single count of receiving award for official misconduct, the New York Times is reporting.
I wrote last week how a guilty plea by Hevesi might lead to…
Former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi is set to plead guilty to a crime in that state’s long-running pay-to-play criminal investigation, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Hevesi’s name might not mean anything to New Mexicans, but his guilty…
The State Investment Council hired the law firm of Day Pitney Tuesday to help it try to recover taxpayer money lost due to questionable deals made in recent years, the Associated Press is reporting. The firm will be paid a…
A prominent fundraiser for high-profile Democrats played a bigger role than previously thought in helping his company land a 2007 deal to manage New Mexico investments, the Albuquerque Journal reported today.
The revelation comes thanks to a court memo…
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…
After months in the hot seat, including being the focus of two federal probes, the State Investment Council decided Tuesday to go after tens of millions of taxpayer dollars lost to potential fraud. A request for proposals (RFP) will be sent out next month with the goal of hiring a firm by mid-September to lead the agency’s effort to recover lost taxpayer money, State Investment Officer Steven Moise said Tuesday.
A current member of the State Investment Council joined two outgoing members Tuesday to accuse Attorney General Gary King of not doing enough recover public money lost to failed or possibly fraudulent investments. King responded by accusing the SIC of trying to shift the “spotlight” from itself and its past investment mistakes.
A newly reconstituted State Investment Council on Tuesday named Steven Moise as state investment officer. The selection was made with the understanding that his appointment wouldn’t be permanent until a full council was assembled. Legislative leaders, who control four seats on the…
An executive producer of a film shot in New Mexico and titled “Chooch” pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud in New York. David Loglisci is the former chief investment officer for New York state’s pension fund and the first…
“The Richardson administration pulled out all the stops to keep Gary Bland on the SIC,” Foy’s attorney, Victor Marshall, said at a small news conference Tuesday. But four SIC members said they never felt pressure from the Richardson in the days before the former state investment officer resigned.
The state Legislature on Thursday morning passed a bill that would reform the State Investment Council. The Governor has said he will sign the bill.
A special prosecutor hired by the New Mexico Attorney General would investigate and recover any money lost from state investment funds due to fraud under legislation that unanimously passed the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon. “I believe personally that we…
Gov. Bill Richardson will lose control of the State Investment Council while the State Investment Officer no longer could hire and fire fund managers under legislation that cleared the Senate on Friday evening. Senators voted unanimously after a short debate to dramatically re-structure how the Council (SIC) is governed.
Law firms in Albuquerque, New York City and Washington, D.C. have joined to file a class-action lawsuit against former New Mexico Investment Officer Gary Bland and members of the Educational Retirement Board, according to the Santa Fe Reporter.
An outside review of the State Investment Council recommends significantly reducing the governor’s power over the agency, the Albuquerque Journal reports today.
Gov. Bill Richardson’s influence over the State Investment Council “is more far-reaching than it is for…
Another money manager with ties to New York and New Mexico state investment scandals has pleaded guilty to bribing state officials in New York in exchange for a $250 million investment from that state’s pension fund, the Albuquerque Journal…
A legislative committee is scheduled to vote this afternoon on proposed legislation to strengthen oversight over New Mexico’s investment of taxpayer money.
One proposed bill before the Investments Oversight Committee would require all state funds that invest money to…
Former State Investment Officer Gary Bland testified this fall before the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its own “non-public, fact-finding inquiry” into the investment scandal that is mushrooming, documents show.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has proposed changing the way the that state’s $120 billion pension fund is managed and regulated. That pension fund has emerged as an epicenter of corruption with a big New Mexico angle: Saul Meyer,…
