The former chief financial officer of Spaceport America contends a number of government officials and entities, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, colluded to defraud taxpayers to the tune of about $200 million in public money.
Zach DeGregorio’s 261-page complaint, filed without legal representation Dec. 28 in First District Court, paints a complex portrait of several government agencies working together to cover up the state’s efforts to ensure the New Mexico Finance Authority maintained the ability to refinance the spaceport’s gross receipts tax bonding power.
DeGregorio contends in his complaint that allowing a private business to handle that refinancing could have saved the state tens of millions of dollars, if not more. He said his efforts to convince Spaceport authorities to go that route were stymied at every turn. He also alleged the spaceport Authority then issued $234,310 in what he calls “fraudulent” bonds to the Finance Authority without failing to disclose “material information to investors.”
While the defendant in the case is the state of New Mexico, DeGregorio alleges misconduct or criminal activity on the part of many state authorities, including Lujan Grisham, state Auditor Brian Colón, Attorney General Hector Balderas and Alicia Keyes, Cabinet secretary of the state Economic Development Department.
The complaint also contends the state committed multiple violations of the New Mexico Whistleblower Act after DeGregorio attempted to tip off state...
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