Gadi Schwartz Is Wrong About Ray Begaye’s Misconduct
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A great report exposing dishonest conduct by Rep. Ray Begaye was marred by a misstatement of the law. After nailing Begaye for submitting false vouchers to the State of New Mexico, KOB-TV reporter Gadi Schwartz let him off the hook unnecessarily. Contrary 
to what viewers were told, state legislators are not immune from criminal responsibility for lying to get money from the State of New Mexico.
Here’s a link to the report.
Schwartz cornered Begaye and confronted him with documentary evidence–prepared by Begaye himself–that he had sought per diem and mileage reimbursement from the public coffers when all his expenses for the trip in question were paid by another organization. In 2010, Begaye attended a conference in Arizona sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislators. They paid for his hotel and meals over a four day trip. They also paid for him to rent an SUV and drive from his New Mexico home. They even picked up his gas tab.
Begaye fronted his expenses and submitted a reimbursement request to the conference sponsors. On the same day he turned to them for reimubursement (and they paid up), he also submitted a bill to the State of New Mexico for mileage for driving his personal car. As Schwartz demonstrates, it was a flat out lie.
Begaye also sought five days of per diem at $153 per day even though the conference records showed his trip lasted only four days.
Schwartz had him, then him let slink away in the closing minute.
“If anyone else did this it would be illegal,” Scwartz says. “But state lawmakers made themselves exempt from the state’s Per Diem and Mileage Act.”
Wrong, says lawyer and State Representative Nate Gentry of Albuquerque. “Representative Begaye’s actions are deeply troubling. If what is alleged by the media is true, Mr. Begaye may face charges for violating various criminal statutes, which carry felony penalties. While I cannot speak for what charges prosecutors may pursue, this is a matter the legislature needs to visit during the next legislative session to determine what, if any, actions are appropriate.”
Gentry points to two criminal statutes that may be applicable to Begaye’s actions. New Mexico Statutes Annotated Section 30-23-2 provides that someone may not pay or receive state money to which they are not entitled. Begaye lied about using his personal car and was not entitled to receive nearly $500 in mileage reimbursement. It may be a stretch to apply this law since it pertains to “personal services,” and falsely claiming use of a personal car may not be viewed as a “personal service.” Begaye was lying in seeking payment for use of his car; he was not wrongfully seeking payment for the personal service of driving the vehicle.
NMSA Section 30-23-3 makes it a crime to submit a false public voucher. It seems that Begaye’s conduct falls squarely within the prohibitions of that criminal statute. That law states:
Making or permitting false public voucher consists of knowingly, intentionally or willfully making, causing to be made or permitting to be made, a false material statement or forged signature upon any public voucher, or invoice supporting a public voucher, with intent that the voucher or invoice shall be relied upon for the expenditure of public money. Whoever commits making or permitting false public voucher is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
Gentry introduced an anti-corruption bill in the last legislative session. Begaye was one of the Democrats voting against the bill. Gentry is a Republican seeking re-election.
KOB-TV Investigative Reporter Gadi Schwartz
Gadi Schwartz is blessed with fire in his belly. I’m not sure I could do the confrontational interviews where he shines. Let’s hope his next brave face-to-face is with New Mexico Attorney General Gary King asking the state’s top law enforcement officer if he’s going to look the other way on Begaye’s false vouchers, or apply the law the same way he would apply it to any other state official.
We’ll stay tuned.
Posted under Blog.
Tags: false vouchers, Gadi Schwartz, KOB-TV, Nate Gentry, Ray Begaye
12:44 pm on September 20th, 2012
No one is letting anyone off the hook. Read this statute [2.42.2.1 NMAC - N, 07/01/03] I didn’t write it, lawmakers did and they carved themselves out an exemption. On the documents that we have, Begaye never makes a statement that he had NOT received reimbursement from anyone else. That would clearly be fraud. If he took a plane when he claimed mileage… that would also be fraud. In this PARTICULAR instance he does not appear to have done either. And he seems to be exempt from Per Diem and Mileage Act according to statute. If later down the road a review of different documents show otherwise… then we will hold him accountable just like we would anyone else. While I appreciate you telling me how to do my job, we take vetting our stories very seriously and independently review all material that we dig up. That means reading ALL statutes that pertain to our story and closely examining the documents that we have. If anything, such a review shows that this is a very, very grey legal area… And something to be decided by those who actually have law degrees. I myself don’t… I couldn’t sit still long enough in class to go to law school so I became a journalist. If you want to see the documents for yourself, we posted them on our website. http://www.KOB.com
3:58 pm on September 20th, 2012
Gadi: It was a great story but you got the law wrong. The statute you cite, 2.42.2.1 NMCA, exempts legislators from the requirements that follow pertaining to per diem and mileage claims. It allows them to get paid more than other state workers and exempts them from the paperwork requirements and other procedures in that act. There is no exemption for legislators from the general criminal statute against making false statements in order to get money from the state. That is the false voucher law cited in this post, and it applies to everyone. Otherwise, a state legislator could submit per diems for meetings he lied about attending and mileage requests for trips he never took, and bear no liability. There is no provision in the law allowing legislators to engage in fraud.
The Begaye document on which he requests mileage reimbursement is a false statement. You proved that in your report. He did not use his vehicle and did not drive it the miles represented in the application for payment.
4:16 pm on September 20th, 2012
This report is racially and politically motivated and singles out a dedicated Navajo Congressman with a sterling record from the poorest area of the State. What about all the things that people like Manny Aragon and his ilk are still doing?
4:42 pm on September 20th, 2012
Going through Ray Begaye’s state campaign finance account, it looks like “Mr. Representative” Ray Begay also broke state campaign finance laws and ILLEGALLY gave $500 to his brother Russell Begaye (who happened to have been running for Navajo Nation Council at the time). The date of that political contribution was 9-30-2010. I think that seriously needs to be investigated, because that action, alone, is a felony and worthy of jail time. State law prohibits such actions, the same way state candidates for federal office CAN’T use state campaign funds to fund federal campaigns too. Such actions are serious violations of state and federal campaign finance laws.
His brother Russell Begaye, is an elected official of the Navajo Nation (tribal government) and is a council delegate representing Shiprock, NM.
Ray Begaye also needs to be investigated for misusing his state campaign funds for personal use and illegal use. Ray Begaye is also the “highest paid” state lawmaker, who rakes in over $50,000 in taxpayer money even though his job is “unpaid.” This example that Gaddy and KOB exposed on Ray Begaye is very likely just the tip of the iceberg.
5:14 pm on September 20th, 2012
Ask an objective lawyer to look at this. We have. The request for mileage reimbursement is legit at the time he sends it out. He is seeking reimbursement for costs he had incurred. Right after that he seeks reimbursement from the conference. At the time of the request it was not fraud against the state. The state did not ask him what kind of vehicle he took. We did. And he lied to us. And we exposed it. We did the story because what he did appears to have been wrong. And we reported the loophole because that seems wrong too. I’m not a judge or a jury. But it will be interesting to see what they decide- if it ever gets that far.
5:29 pm on September 20th, 2012
Gadi: continuing this public conversation: How was the request for mileage reimbursement “legit” at any time? He did not drive his personal vehicle, a precondition for claiming mileage reimbursement. I’d say he was fully aware of that fact at the time he swore to the truthfulness of his application for reimbursement. That wasn’t something that came to his attention after he signed the reimbursement form and sent it off. Begaye drove a rental he knew was being paid for by the conference organizers. You did a great job showing he applied for that reimbursement the same day he sent his false bill to the State in which he claimed to have used his personal vehicle to make the trip. I hope you follow up on any other leads that may come your way about other out of state conferences attended by Mr. Begaye for which claimed a mileage reimbursement. You might find a pattern. Great work. Keep it up.
7:46 pm on September 20th, 2012
If I thought any of this was legit, do you think we would have done this story? What happened was clearly wrong. I think we agree there. Was it illegal? You say yes. I say I’m a journalist and it’s not my job to decide. I present the facts to people and I happen to think it’s important for them to know that there is a loophole and lawmakers have carved out an exemption for themselves. That’s why it was included. When I caught Jerome stealing gas, I presented the facts… I didn’t convict him the night I confronted him. That’s not our job. Our job is to dig, substantiate, press for answers and present the public with what we find… Now out of sheer indignation and disgust, I’m going to boycott your blog for a full hour in protest. So try not to post anything else juicy about me until at least 7:45 so I can read it and respond. Tell Rob I’m sorry, but principal is principal….
7:50 pm on September 20th, 2012
I meant to write *principle —– I’d hate to get dragged into all your edu coverage.
7:55 pm on September 20th, 2012
Gadi: If you look at Ray Begaye’s Itemized Scheduled of Travel Expenses… Down at the bottom where he signed, is a Sworn Statement that he’s being truthful and honest and that his report is in compliance with the Mileage and Per Diem Act. FYI Bottomline: He lied on an officially signed and sworn statement in order to steal from NM Taxpayers.
8:52 pm on September 22nd, 2012
This is the same guy who compared Obama supporters to Nazis, Gadi. Can’t reason with a person like that.