National Roundup

New Mexico
High court rules investment suits constitutional

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico's highest court on Thursday cleared the way for two lawsuits that allege political support for former Gov. Bill Richardson influenced state investment deals.

The state Supreme Court ruled that former chief state investment officer Frank Foy can receive triple-damage awards if he can prove corruption was taking place. His lawsuits have been put on hold since an opposite ruling by the Court of Appeals nearly two years ago.

Foy filed whistleblower lawsuits on behalf of taxpayers in 2008 and 2009. He alleges a pay-to-play scheme that improperly shaped investment decisions involving billions of dollars by the Educational Retirement Board and the State Investment Council in favor of Richardson supporters.

The council sued its former top manager, officials with private financial firms as well as a Richardson supporter. All contend there was no wrongdoing.

The agency alleged that state investment business was steered to Richardson's political contributors.

Marc Correra, whose father was a fundraiser for Richardson, shared in more than $22 million in fees from firms that got state investments, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Correra ended up paying the state nearly $329,000 to resolve a tax-evasion case.

A now defunct financial advisory firm settled with New Mexico last year over accusations of funneling public investment deals to Richardson's political allies. Dallas-based Aldus Equity Partners and three of its officials agreed to pay the state more than $600,000.

The council manages investments of New Mexico permanent funds valued at roughly $19 billion.

The state Supreme Court decided that the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act is constitutional and ordered that the two whistleblower lawsuits over state and pension fund investments be consolidated.

The high court will appoint a pro-tem judge to handle the litigation.

One of the main issues in the appeal was the constitutionality of a provision for whistleblower lawsuits on behalf of the state for alleged fraud that took place as far back as July 1987.

Rulings by two district court judges and the Court of Appeals had invalidated that provision, declaring it unconstitutional to apply the law's penalties to actions that occurred before the statute became effective on July 1, 2007.

Those district court and Court of Appeals rulings left the rest of the law intact and allowed whistleblower cases for alleged fraud that happened after the law went into effect in 2007.

The Supreme Court concluded the retroactive application of the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act was constitutional. The law allows triple damages to be awarded - in other words, three times the amount of the losses or damages suffered by the government.

New York
Man involved in Broadway scam gets more time

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - A once high-flying stockbroker previously sentenced for conning the producers of Broadway's "Rebecca" will serve 11 more years in federal prison.

Mark Hotton was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court on Long Island. He also was ordered to pay $5.75 million in restitution.

He pleaded guilty in July 2013 to conspiring to launder the illicit proceeds of almost two decades of fraudulent activity stemming from his work as a stockbroker.

Prosecutors say from January 1995 to October 2012, Hotton ran securities fraud schemes and mail fraud schemes and committed other crimes.

Hotton previously pleaded guilty in New York City to charges he made false promises that he could raise $4 million from phantom investors of the Broadway play.

He was given a nearly three-year sentence in that case.

New York
Student sues after SAT error gives extra time

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A high school student from New York has filed a lawsuit after a printing error forced parts of the June 6 SAT to be thrown out.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, echoes others filed in New York and Florida against the creators and administrators of the test.

The College Board oversees the exam and Princeton-based Educational Testing Service creates and administers it.

The June 6 exam contained a printing error that gave some students five more minutes on one section. The test incorrectly said students had "25 minutes" to complete the section, while directions read out loud correctly told students they had 20 minutes.

The College Board announced a few days after the test that Sections 8 and 9 would be thrown out and all students would be scored on the remaining sections, with the results still valid. Scores would be based on fewer questions, testing officials said.

The New York student, Jennie Whalen, alleges throwing out the sections is unfair to students who are striving for the highest possible scores. She says the June 6 results would not stack up to scores from previous and subsequent exams. She is seeking a refund of the $54.50 fee plus damages.

The College Board recently announced students who took the June 6 exam could retake it for free in October even though the June 6 results were valid.

Vermont
Man facing death penalty retrial sued for stabbing

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A man facing a federal death penalty retrial in the killing of a Vermont supermarket worker 15 years ago has been accused in a lawsuit of stabbing another death row inmate in 2012.

Donald Fell was convicted and sentenced to death a decade ago for the killing of Terry King. A judge ordered a new trial last year after it was revealed a juror had investigated the case on his own.

Fell was shackled in court in the latest pretrial proceeding because of an unspecified incident on death row in 2012, according to court records.

The Burlington Free Press reported Thursday that Fell has been accused in a lawsuit of attacking James H. Roane Jr., 49, in 2012 at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Fell was a "student" of the white supremacist group Aryan Brotherhood who had ordered a "hit" on Roane, the newspaper reported.

Fell was not charged in the alleged attack.

Roane's lawsuit accuses prison officials of failing to protect him or to thoroughly investigate the attack. Roane said Fell stabbed him in the face and upper body and continued after prison officials ordered him to stop.

The lawsuit said Roane suffered a laceration on the side of his neck, a swelling of clotted blood inside his neck and a hand fracture and had to have part of his thyroid removed. He underwent surgery and spent nearly three weeks in the hospital, including time in intensive care, the lawsuit said.

Published: Mon, Jun 29, 2015