Suspected FOP lodge embezzlement probed

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A criminal investigation is under way into a suspected embezzlement scheme at Santa Fe's Fraternal Order of Police and the lodge is dealing with major financial problems tied to the alleged loss.

The FOP, state police and the District Attorney's Office confirmed to the Albuquerque Journal that they're conducting an active investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing at the FOP four or five years ago.

No charges have been filed. And it's unknown how many people may have been involved, how much money may have been stolen or whether any law enforcement officers are being investigated.

A former civilian FOP employee is a potential target of the investigation, but she told the Journal last week that she's done nothing wrong. The New Mexico Gaming Control Board has put conditions on the gaming license for the FOP - which relies on slots revenue and bar sales for its survival - that include keeping the former employee away from gaming operations.

FOP attorney Rosanna Vazquez says board members struggled two years ago to keep the lodge afloat. It took "drastic measures" just to stay afloat financially. Employees weren't being paid for weeks so the FOP could catch up on bills, like electric and gas payments, and a board member even took FOP garbage to the dump because it couldn't afford trash service.

The lodge now has its finances under control but faces a big tax bill, Vazquez said.

The lodge is behind on paying property taxes, going back to 2009. As of early this month, the total due is more than $42,000, according to a Santa Fe County Treasurer's Office tax statement.

Vazquez said the "taxes are killing them because of interest" and acknowledged that the property tax problems "have resulted from what happened" during the time when money started going missing.

Vazquez took over as attorney in 2010 and said she doesn't know just how much money was taken or how FOP funds went missing.

"It's difficult to ascertain how much money is involved," the attorney said. "Your guess is as good as mine. It is a lot of money."

Vazquez and FOP Second Vice President Adam Gallegos, a police sergeant and president of the Santa Fe police officers' union, said the FOP has made payment arrangements on the amounts owed.

"We've been in the hole for a long time," Gallegos said. "We've reached an agreement on the taxes, but it's going to take time for us to pay it all back."

The Journal identified the former employee as secretary Margaret Dubois, who was barred by the Gaming Control Board from having contact with the slots.

Reached by phone by a Journal reporter Thursday, she denied taking any FOP funds. "I kind of feel I'm being used as a scapegoat," Dubois said. "I've lost contact with everyone I worked with there."

Dubois was fired as FOP secretary around 2009. She said she "tried to get down to the bottom of issues regarding the gaming" at FOP before she was fired.

"I tried to help," she said. "I was really in over my head."

Dubois said that a "lack of checks and balances within the organization" is what led to the missing money, but she didn't know how that happened, or who was responsible.

Dubois acknowledged that, for years, she has suspected that she's a target of a criminal investigation.

"I don't know what or if something is going to come against me," she said. "I keep hearing about this every four or five months, with my name coming up each time. But I've never been interviewed by State Police or the DA."

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal