A suspect deal is finally put to rest (NM Richardson's Railroad)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | August 11, 2018 | Mike Gallagher

[CedarDave]

... New Mexico is finally free of a back-room highway bond deal that kept then-Gov. Bill Richardson out of then-President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet once it was exposed.

Back in 2004 and 2006, very few people understood what had been done to get $1.6 billion in state highway bonds used to start a bunch of highway projects and the Rail Runner commuter train.

And even fewer knew why a company known as CDR Financial Products Inc. of Beverly Hills, was involved.

The Richardson administration wanted the $1.6 billion in bonds to make a big splash on the state’s economy... But the state Department of Transportation didn’t have the money flow to guarantee that amount at the fixed rates of interest it could offer at that time.

The state entered into [interest rate] swap agreements with six banks, one of which, Lehman Brothers, later went bankrupt during the [2007] financial crisis, causing the state to scramble to post $16 million in collateral until it found another bank to take over the deal.

The swaps were arranged by CDR Financial Products.

One of the company officers later testified in a criminal trial that the company made almost $1 million for 13 hours of work on the New Mexico deal.

Company executives were later indicted in a federal court in New York for rigging bond bids across the country.

In 2012, during a separate federal criminal trial in New York City, Douglas Goldberg testified that he delivered a $25,000 check directly to then-Gov. Richardson in 2004 for one of his political action committees.

According to Goldberg, CDR officials had contributed a total of $100,000 to Richardson political action committees in 2004 in order to get the work with the New Mexico Finance Authority, which handled bond transactions for the Department of Transportation.

[CedarDave]

Richardson’s attorney discounted the testimony as “not credible.”

Fast forward to today. Thanks to changes in the federal tax code pushed by Trump and passed by Congress, it was fiscally responsible to refinance the entire mess. Also the refinance got rid of high cost balloon payments in the final two years of the bonds.

New Mexico's past corruption runs deep, but the Dems are no doubt cooking up new schemes to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense.

[CedarDave]

Richardson wanted New Mexico to have a ABQ-Santa Fe commuter railroad to enhance his environmental resume when running for president in 2008. Using the bond money and eschewing federal transit construction money (which required a cost/benefit analysis that the project couldn't meet), Richardson spent just shy of $500 million to buy more than 82 miles of ROW from BNSF and construct another 18 miles up La Bajada hill to connect with I-25 for the run to Santa Fe.

With yearly interest of $28 million and balloon payments previously due in 2025 and 2026, the cost of the railroad is about 3/4 of a billion dollars. And that doesn't include the annual operating deficit of about $25.6 million dollars.

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[CedarDave]

For a complete list of my posts on Richardson and the Rail Runner dating back to 2006, click on the keyword Richardson's Railroad

[joelt]

The Rail Roader! Still an anvil around the neck of the taxpayer.

[\/\/ayne]

[laplata]

New Mexico’s past corruption runs deep, but the Dems are no doubt cooking up new schemes to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense.
><

That’s a certainty.

[ridesthemiles]

Richrdson was tasked with the job of finding a job away from Washington for Monica Lewinsky when the sexual favors under the Oval Office desk were revealed.

[wjcsux]

NM would make a great 3rd world bannana republic if you could grow bannanas here.

[Fightin Whitey]

Fat greedy perv.

[vette6387]

“NM would make a great 3rd world bannana republic if you could grow bannanas here.”

Yeah, no kidding. My wife’s fat-a$$ed cousin and her skinny-a$$ed professor husband moved to Santa Fe after “retirement” in CT. Went there one to visit. Santa Fe is Berkeley without the Bay. Wife finally said “adios” to the both of them. They fit right in. The only thing I ever saw from NM that was worthwhile was “Wild Hogs!”

[DesertRhino]

New Mexico is the world’s richest third world country.

[fishtank]

[laplata]

It certainly would.

[laplata]

Lol. NM has plenty of those.

[fishtank]

That’s banana yucca to all the non Southwestern desert dwellers here on FR.....

[fishtank]

Rail runner....

Spaceport....

ART buses....

My prediction from SF commies:

Living wage

Single payer health care

Free college

Legalized zombie brain lard (marijuana)

Etc etc

[tiki]

So true, our county government is mired in a scandal right now. The sad thing is pretty much everyone who went before them were even more corrupt but didn’t get caught.

[laplata]

Good list.

[laplata]

Lol. I think you’re right.

[Pining_4_TX]

So, is anything going to happen to this crook, or does he walk away unscathed?