Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias, who never knew of a job he liked except his own, explains the vital need to elect Fred DuVal as Arizona’s next governor.
From the Yellow Sheet:
IN CASE YOU’RE FUZZY ON THE DETAILS
The SEC charged UBS over a bid-rigging scheme involving municipal bonds in 36 states, including New Mexico, one of 10 states that UBS hired DuVal and his company to help it win contracts to sell bonds. In disclosures filed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, UBS credited DuVal and Associates with helping it win a bid to sell about $1.1 billion in bonds for the New Mexico Finance Authority, which raised money for Governor Richardson’s Investment Partnership (GRIP), a statewide infrastructure program created by Richardson. DuVal told Bloomberg News in 2009 (LINK) that, though he was hired and retained by UBS, he played no role in helping the bank get business with the New Mexico Finance Authority, and the company unnecessarily credited him due to a “tendency to over-report.” DuVal’s name came up during the investigation due to his dual role with UBS and as a director for Si Se Puede! Boston 2004 Inc., a committee that Richardson started to cover his expenses at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. According to documents the committee filed with the IRS, DuVal was one of six people listed as a director for Si Se Puede!, joining the committee two months after the bond deal that UBS credited him for. CDR Financial Products Inc., another company caught up in the bid-rigging scheme, gave $75,000 to the committee, as well as $25,000 to another Richardson committee. The investigation into the scandal led Obama to withdraw Richardson’s nomination as his commerce secretary in 2009.