A year and a half after a preliminary probe from the State Auditor’s office concluded that Demesia Padilla used her state position to benefit her former private client, the Taxation and Revenue Department secretary resigned from office this month after nearly six years on the job. The revelations of an ongoing investigation by Attorney General […]
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The key parts of the Demesia Padilla search warrant
The Attorney General’s office filed a search warrant for the house of Demesia Padilla. Padilla then resigned from her position as Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary. Here are some of the key parts of the search warrant that NM Political Report obtained yesterday. Padilla was doing work for Harold’s Grading & Trucking through Feb. 2013. […]
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Our coverage of Demesia Padilla’s alleged abuse of power
Part of the search warrant that resulted in the resignation of Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary Demesia Padilla mentioned her alleged abuse of power in a case referred by the State Auditor. Here are the stories NM Political Report wrote about this from last year. Auditor finds possible abuse of power in Tax and Rev: […]
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Documents: Search warrant on Demesia Padilla
Read the search warrant that led to Tax and Revenue Department Secretary Demesia Padilla’s Thursday resignation: Demesia Padilla Search Warrant by New Mexico Political Report on Scribd
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Former Tax and Revenue Secretary charged with embezzlement
The New Mexico Attorney General filed embezzlement and other charges against a former Tax and Revenue Department (TRD) secretary Thursday. She had previously resigned amid questions about possible preferential treatment of a former client. A spokesman for Attorney General Hector Balderas confirmed that special agents with the AG’s office filed nine criminal charges against former […]
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Federal agents raid TRD offices
The state Taxation and Revenue Department may be facing more scandal after a troubled few years. Federal agents reportedly executed a search warrant at the department’s offices. KOB-TV was the first to report the search and quoted the department’s spokesman, Benjamin Cloutier, as saying the search is related to a classified employee and the department […]
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Measure to create new ethics commission clears first hurdle
With the state wracked by successive corruption scandals involving top officials, several lawmakers seem to agree that this is the year for ethics reform in New Mexico. A committee of the state House of Representatives gave a boost to those hopes Thursday by advancing a bipartisan proposal to establish an independent ethics commission through a […]
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2016 Top Stories #1: SNAP fraud scandal at HSD
In April, five employees of the state agency that processes key federal benefits to the poor made explosive testimonies in court—that their bosses instructed them to doctor emergency food aid applications to hurt the very people they’re supposed to help. The following month, four more Human Services Department employees added their voices to the allegations. […]
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2016 Top Stories #2: State budget situation worsens
The state budget situation was the backdrop of so many other stories this year and will remain a large story that NM Political Report and others will continue to cover in 2017 and beyond. Due in large part to the state’s reliance on oil and gas revenues to fund the government, New Mexico earlier this […]
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2016 Top Stories #3: AG clears final behavioral health providers
Years after the state cut off Medicaid funding to 15 behavioral health providers, citing “credible allegations of fraud,” the Attorney General cleared all providers of the alleged fraud. AG Hector Balderas made finishing the investigation into the providers a key goal when he entered office in 2015. Previously: Top ten stories of 2016: 10-6; #5: NM […]