Scrutiny of Chávez’s relationship with indicted woman continues
Marty Chávez (Courtesy photo)
Public records reveal that 1st Congressional District candidate Marty Chávez spent lots of time with a woman indicted in a hospital-embezzlement case during years in which she was allegedly committing those crimes.
1st Congressional District candidate Marty Chávez’s campaign has said repeatedly that his relationship with a woman indicted in a hospital-embezzlement case began in early 2009 – after Loretta Mares allegedly committed those crimes.
However, the Albuquerque Journal reported this over the weekend:
“But city travel and phone records from Chávez’s final term as mayor of Albuquerque, reviewed by the Journal, show more than 750 calls between Chávez and Mares on the mayor’s city-provided cellphone over a 10-month period that began in August 2006. Many of the calls were on nights and weekends.
“Records also show that while Chávez was mayor, Mares – who faces civil allegations and criminal charges – accompanied him on official trips to the Canary Islands, Israel and China in 2007 and 2008.”
Mares is accused of being involved in bilking a Santa Fe hospital out of at least $2.5 million between 2005 and 2008.
The response from Chávez:
“Asked by the Journal about the phone calls and trips, Chávez said in an interview last week that he stands by the previous statements. He said he and Mares had dated but weren’t in an ‘exclusive’ relationship until early 2009.
“‘We were going out,’ said Chávez, who has been divorced since 2004. ‘I’ve known Loretta for years.’
“…Chávez said in the interview last week that he couldn’t recall exactly when he and Mares started dating and said both had dated other people prior to 2009.
“He said Mares was the only woman he had dated who accompanied him on official trips that included official government trade missions.”
Chávez has not been accused of any crime related to the alleged embezzlement and his campaign has said he had no knowledge of the alleged criminal activity.
There’s lots more in Colleen Heild’s Journal article. Read it here.
Agreed Mike Goodenow.
It is yet to be proven that she yielded to the temptation of corruption. Really, even if Chavez had run a background check as a precaution before choosing to date the woman, this problem would not have been apparent. No amount of caution could have allowed him to discern a potential problem with her professional life. She most likely looked great on paper and was/is a pleasure to be with. I would encourage Marty Chavez not to give up on dating and all the risk that it entails. Good luck.
I don’t see that Mayor Chavez is in any way responsible for the conduct of someone he dated. He should be judged entirely by his performance in public office and his policy priorities and positions in this campaign, as should the other two candidates.
On average, Mr. Chavez called or talked to Ms. Mares 2.5 times per day from August 2006 until June 2007 (750 calls over a 10 month period). Then, Ms. Mares accompanied Mr. Chavez on three trips in 2007 and 2008. (All on the taxpayer’s dime I might add.) Sounds a lot more serious than Mr. Chavez claims.
The crucial question is whether or not Mr. Chavez knew about Ms. Mares’ alleged embezzlement activities while he was dating or communicating with Ms. Mares over the same period. I guess we’ll find out.
No doubt a cloud of suspicion will be hanging over Mr. Chavez’ political ambitions as this mystery unravels,
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