The state of New Mexico says it is getting a $24.25 million settlement from a Chicago-based firm to resolve claims in a pay-to-play scandal that involved former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
The New Mexico Investment Council’s announcement Friday says the council is getting $20 million and the teacher pension fund an additional $4.25 million.District Judge Stephen Pfeffer of Santa Fe is being asked to approve the deal.
The SIC filed a lawsuit against more than a dozen individuals in 2011, claiming the state lost hundreds of millions of dollars and through pay-to-play and politically motivated investments made during the administration of Gov. Bill Richardson.
That lawsuit alleged former State Investment Officer Gary Bland, Richardson associate Anthony Correra, his son Marc Correra, and others were part of the scheme. All have denied any wrongdoing.
Firms such as Vanderbilt allegedly paid Correra and other placement agents millions of dollars in “marketing fees” to help them get state investment business.
The State Investment Council estimates that its investments in Vanderbilt alone lost $100 million while the ERB lost $40 million.
The council says the settlement to be paid by Vanderbilt Capital Advisors heads off possible litigation. That litigation would have related to allegations that individuals contributed to political committees associated with former Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration to get the state’s investment business.
The announcement of the settlement says the state believes its claims against Vanderbilt were well-founded and valid but that Vanderbilt contends it had legal and factual points on its side.
No criminal charges have been filed in the New Mexico scandal
Bill Richardson – the former US energy secretary, UN ambassador, state governor and one-time presidential candidate once vied for the Democratic nomination to the presidency in 2008 elections. Now he is a consultant and the chairman of APCO Worldwide’s global political strategies group.
