【华尔街日报】新墨西哥州的前州长涉嫌贪污

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More Scrutiny of Richardson Besides Campaign Probe, Former Governor Faces a 'Pay to Play' Investigation

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204083204577080333364740326.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_2

By STEPHANIE SIMON And LESLIE EATON

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the subject of a federal probe into possible campaign-finance violations, also is being scrutinized by federal investigators looking into allegations of corruption in state investment decisions, according to people familiar with the matter and subpoenas reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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Bill Richardson

[url=][/url]  Albuquerque Journal/Associated Press

Suits allege Anthony Correra, an adviser to Bill Richardson, helped set up a kickback scheme that benefited his son, Marc Correra, pictured.

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque has been looking into "pay to play" complaints from former and current state officials, people familiar with the matter say.  The officials contend in court filings and interviews that Mr. Richardson's close allies steered more than $2 billion of public money into investment funds run by money managers who in turn agreed to pay millions of dollars in consulting fees to high-profile Democratic fund-raisers and other supporters of Mr. Richardson.

Department of Justice subpoenas issued in 2009 and 2010 don't name Mr. Richardson but seek information about the activities of the State Investment Council, which the governor sat on and controlled by appointing its executive director and a majority of members.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in separate subpoenas in 2009, specifically sought all correspondence about investments between members of the investment-council board and Mr. Richardson.The SEC also asked for information about Mr. Richardson's campaign funds and political action committees, including those involved in his short-lived bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Neither agency would comment on the investigations.  People familiar with the probes say they continue but that authorities have recently concentrated on the separate grand jury looking into whether Mr. Richardson arranged for his supporters to pay off a woman who planned to say publicly that they had an extramarital affair. No charges have been filed.

Mr. Richardson, 64 years old, didn't return repeated calls seeking comment on either of the investigations.

” His criminal defense lawyer, Peter Schoenburg, said the governor "was not involved in day-to-day investment decisions" and "did not know about any payments to outside advisers." ” He emphasized that there has been "no finding of wrongdoing on the part of Gov. Richardson."

Shortly after Mr. Richardson took office in 2003, he began pushing the State Investment Council, which finances education and other government services through a $14 billion endowment, to diversify its investments from stocks and bonds to include more risky but potentially more lucrative investments, such as venture capital, private equity and hedge funds, according to his public statements and council minutes.
One of the governor's closest advisers, Anthony Correra, took a desk in the council offices and began attending meetings and discussing investments, according to former council members and staff.  Mr. Correra had worked decades earlier as a Wall Street analyst but surrendered his securities license in 1990 as part of a settlement with the SEC over an insider-trading case, federal records show.  Mr. Correra, who neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in that case, was also ordered to forfeit nearly $500,000 in profits.

The council also hired a Dallas investment adviser, Saul Meyer, to help identify promising funds.

In the spring of 2009, Mr. Meyer's name surfaced in connection with a kickback scheme involving a New York pension fund run by that state's comptroller, Alan Hevesi. In October 2009, Mr. Meyer pleaded guilty to criminal charges in New York, admitting he steered the retirement fund to invest with managers who would pay kickbacks disguised as marketing fees.

In his plea, Mr. Meyer said he had carried out a similar scheme in New Mexico. He said he had "succumbed to pressures" from "politically connected individuals" but didn't publicly name names. Mr. Meyer is cooperating with authorities, and his sentencing in the New York case has been repeatedly postponed.  His lawyer declined to comment.

At least a half-dozen other investment advisers and managers who pleaded guilty or agreed to pay large fines in the New York case were also involved with investments in New Mexico, state records show. Though people in the New York case, including Mr. Hevesi, have been sentenced to prison, no criminal charges have been filed in New Mexico.

But two state investment agencies and two former top investment officials in New Mexico have filed four separate civil lawsuits alleging that Mr. Richardson's advisers and appointees conspired to corrupt the system and defraud taxpayers.

The civil lawsuits, which are pending, don't target Mr. Richardson. They allege that Mr. Correra, the former stockbroker and friend of the governor, orchestrated a kickback scheme, in part to benefit his family.  Mr. Correra's son, Marc, was paid at least $14 million in marketing fees by investment managers, according to a lawsuit filed by the State Investment Council, which has been restructured by the current Republican governor.

The council asserts that it didn't know about the fees, and that Marc Correra did little to earn them.  One group of managers paid him nearly $200,000 to recommend a hotel in Santa Fe and join them for dinner, the lawsuit claims.  Another paid him $2 million for services limited to providing the address of the State Investment Council, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawyer representing Marc Correra, who moved to France in August 2009, shortly after the investigations began, didn't respond to repeated telephone calls and emails requesting comment. A lawyer for Anthony Correra denied wrongdoing.

The Correras donated more than $110,000 to Democratic causes and candidates in 2008, and Anthony Correra and Mr. Richardson co-hosted a major fund-raiser for Barack Obama six weeks before the 2008 election.  Both Messrs. Correra also held positions in a political action committee, Moving America Forward, that was founded by Mr. Richardson.

Defendants in the civil lawsuits also include other prominent Democrats who received payments in connection with New Mexico investments, including Marvin Rosen, the former finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, and major Democratic donors Alfred Jackson and Daniel Weinstein.

A lawyer for Mr. Jackson, an investment manager in Houston, denied wrongdoing. A lawyer for Mr. Weinstein, an investment manager in Los Angeles, said he was still studying the complaint.  Mr. Rosen's lawyer didn't return calls seeking comment.