Bruce Malott, the ex-chairman of the $11 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, is currently the defendant in five separate lawsuits stemming his handling of pension investments, which were allegedly marred by conflicts of interest.
Mallot resigned from the pension fund as a result of the controversy. But he claimed that the Retirement Board should pay his attorney fees accrued during those lawsuits. The Board initially refused, but Mallot sued the board over the fees, and today the Board has agreed to pay $125,000 worth of his attorney costs.
Reported by the Albuquerque Journal:
The Educational Retirement Board has paid its former chairman, Bruce Malott, $125,000 to settle a civil lawsuit he filed to recover money for legal representation in lawsuits arising from a state investment scandal.
Malott filed the lawsuit two years ago when the board refused to pay for his personal attorney fees based on an attorney general’s opinion and because he was also represented by lawyers hired by the state.
“The attorney general’s opinion stated clearly that I should not be reimbursed for my legal fees if I had done anything wrong, so this payment only demonstrates what I have said all along – that I have acted with integrity throughout my tenure at the ERB,” Malott said.
ERB Executive Director Jan Goodwin said in a statement, “Consistent with a ruling issued by U.S. District Court Judge Martha Vázquez earlier this year, the agency determined that a settlement was in the best interest of ERB members and beneficiaries. Continued litigation held the risk of escalating costs and an uncertain outcome.
“The settlement allows ERB to focus its attention on its mission of serving its members,” she said.
The ERB was represented by the Attorney General’s Office in the lawsuit.
More details on Malott’s conflicts of interest during his tenure at the pension fund, from the Albuquerque Journal:
Malott was named as a defendant in five separate civil lawsuits that claimed investments by the State Investment Council and the Educational Retirement Board were steered to investment firms by placement agents with close ties to then-Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. The main placement agent, Marc Correra, shared in more than $22 million in fees for steering state investments from the SIC and the ERB to firms that paid him.
Correra’s father, Anthony Correra, was part of Richardson’s inner circle, and raised money for his campaigns for governor and president.
While serving on the ERB, Malott received a $340,000 loan from the elder Correra through a trust.
Malott resigned as chairman of the ERB following an interview with the Journal about the loan, which had not been disclosed to the ERB, the public or to Richardson, who had appointed Malott to the ERB.
The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board is the pension fund for 90,000 of the state’s teachers. It oversees $11 billion of assets.