As AG alleges scheme involving former secretary of state to bilk taxpayers out of millions of dollars, officials share ideas to combat such abuses
The indictments of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and others are a reminder of the need for reforms that might help prevent or deter public corruption in the future.
Officials point to reforms such as the creation of an independent ethics commission, more funding for the state auditor and attorney general and regulatory changes.
Vigil-Giron, lobbyists Joseph Kupfer and Elizabeth Kupfer and contractor Armando Gutierrez are accused of bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars between 2004 and 2006 by falsifying invoices to the secretary of state’s office. State Auditor Hector Balderas said it’s one of several cases in recent years that expose the state’s weak oversight and lack of fraud-detection systems.
“I think we’ve been in a fiscal accountability crisis for many years. The recent indictments and the recent high-profile audits have only exposed a small proportion of a much greater problem,” Balderas said in an interview, citing a recent study that found a significant percentage of any budget is susceptible to fraud.
Among the reforms Balderas is calling for are more stringent audits on lucrative state contracts — and more staff in his office to conduct them.
He cited several recent cases as examples of a widespread problem:
• Last week a special audit uncovered a $3.3 million embezzlement in the Jemez Mountain School District. The audit says the district’s former business manager, Kathy Borrego, took the money. A criminal investigation is pending.
• Four men are currently under indictment in the housing authority scandal, a case centered on the widespread misuse of $5 million in state-owned bonds on which the Region III Housing Authority defaulted in 2006.
• Former Senate President Manny Aragon and others have been convicted of felony crimes for their roles in stealing $4.2 million in taxpayer money by inflating and falsifying invoices during construction of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse.
“These cases are revealing a systemic problem of a lack of oversight of their fiscal management,” Balderas said. “We’ve got poor detection systems that leave us vulnerable to future acts of abuse and fraud.”
State Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque and a proponent of ethics reform, agreed.
“There is a crisis in accountability, and we need to take action,” she said.
Structural changes
The National Association of Certified Fraud Examiners recently estimated, following a comprehensive study, that 3-5 percent of any budget is susceptible to fraud, Balderas said. In an annual budget of about $6 billion like New Mexico’s, that’s at least $180 million each year. Balderas said his audits and investigations by the attorney general aren’t coming close to uncovering all the fraud that’s taking place.
“We’re uncovering wrongdoings in the millions of dollars, but I think we’re barely scratching the surface,” he said.
Balderas suggested several changes to ensure the state does a better job of combating government fraud:
• The auditor and attorney general need more employees. Balderas started a special investigations division to tackle fraud when he took office in 2007, but it has only five employees. He said his office, which currently has about 30 employees, should have 150-200.
• Balderas wants a new state law that requires an audit and verification process for how money is spent each time a government agency enters into a construction or service contract for $1 million or greater.
• He said the state lacks qualified finance officers to fill government jobs, which is “a worse crisis than the shortage of teachers and law enforcement agents in New Mexico.” Balderas wants one of the state universities to create a program to train such employees.
• The state currently regulates a number of other professions but not government financial officers. He wants the state to create a regulatory board to ensure people hired for government finance jobs have the proper qualifications and experience.
Others cite need for an ethics commission
The cases listed by Balderas are only some of the public corruption scandals that have plagued state government in recent years. In addition to the cases he cited, two former state treasurers and a former deputy state insurance superintendent have been convicted of corruption-related crimes. A current member of the Public Regulation Commissioner and his father, a former commissioner, are facing charges related to abusing the state’s public financing system.
A former school administrator in Las Vegas has been convicted on fraud charges. A former municipal judge in Sunland Park has been convicted of voter fraud. A government inspector in Bernalillo County is currently facing bribery charges.
Referring to the litany of scandals, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish said the most recent indictments of Vigil-Giron and others are “further evidence of New Mexico’s need for an independent ethics commission and increased transparency in state government.”
“The indictment of a government official erodes public confidence in their government,” she said in a prepared statement. “… On July 9, I announced a plan for establishing an independent ethics commission that has the legal authority to investigate ethics complaints and impose penalties when necessary. I am more committed than ever to working with the Legislature to pass this ethics plan.”
Feldman agreed that an ethics commission is needed, and said it should have broad powers to hold legislators, state officials and local-government officials accountable. She suggested that such a commission might also be able to take on the development of an online campaign finance reporting system — a project that has been plagued with problems and delays in the hands of the secretary of state’s office.
If it also took on that responsibility, such a body could tap into money already allocated to the secretary of state, so she said it could be created “in a relatively budget-neutral kind of way.”