New Mexico sues Kansas City Chiefs owner in pay-to-play scandal

By Mike Gallagher

Clark Hunt, chairman of the board and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs football team, is accused in a State Investment Council lawsuit of agreeing to a kickback arrangement with then-Gov. Bill Richardson insiders Anthony and Marc Correra in return for their steering state investment money to a hedge fund in which Hunt was a partner. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in state District Court in Santa Fe, names Hunt individually, HFV Asset Management LP and a number of “John Doe” defendants. It is the latest development in the pay-to-play scandal that rocked the Richardson administration. The Correras were political gatekeepers to the State Investment Council investments and were paid millions of dollars in “finder’s fees” by companies that landed state business. Clark Hunt, chairman of the board and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs football team, is accused in a State Investment Council lawsuit of agreeing to a kickback arrangement with then-Gov. Bill Richardson insiders Anthony and Marc Correra in return for their steering state investment money to a hedge fund in which Hunt was a partner. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in state District Court in Santa Fe, names Hunt individually, HFV Asset Management LP and a number of “John Doe” defendants. It is the latest development in the pay-to-play scandal that rocked the Richardson administration. The Correras were political gatekeepers to the State Investment Council investments and were paid millions of dollars in “finder’s fees” by companies that landed state business. Richardson has maintained since the scandal broke in 2009 that he was unaware of what the Correras and then-State Investment Officer Gary Bland were doing and at one point said he was “betrayed” by his friends. The new lawsuit alleges Anthony Correra helped Richardson maintain a “lavish lifestyle” that, among other things, included paying for expensive travel, meals, hotels, events and vacations costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. “When fund managers approached Richardson seeking alternative investments from the SIC, Richardson referred them to Anthony Correra,” the lawsuit says...more