Miscellaneous

Follow the Money: It Could Lead to Crooks

By Anne Skove, Esq.

A Texas-sized scandal is going on in Albuquerque, where a multi-million-dollar courthouse ripoff was uncovered.

The former court administrator and others skimmed $4 million from an $85 million courthouse project.

"Defendants are falling like dominoes," as one reporter put it. The mayor, courthouse architect, engineer, court administrator, and his wife went on a 3-hour tour, all pleading guilty to various parts of the scheme. All will testify against former state senator Manny Aragon and contractors.

What's the court-o-rama lesson here? Don't do this!

See Defendants Plead Guilty in Corruption Case, AP (October 14, 2008). The link includes video from the local Eyewitness News 4. See also Administrator Enters Plea in Courthouse Case, AP (October 10, 2008), and the dated but thorough Four Indicted in Courthouse Conspiracy, Sue Major Holmes, Alquerque Journal (March 30, 2007).

Thanks to our New Mexican mole for the scoop!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on October 14, 2008 (boomark / email).