A records clerk at New Mexico State University is suing past and present state officials and a couple of controversial financial firms in a class-action suit to recapture money lost in questionable investments by the state Educational Retirement Board.

The suit, filed by Donna Hill of Las Cruces, seeks to win back money for 95,000 beneficiaries of the state educators' pension fund.

Hill, in an e-mail Tuesday, referred all questions to one of her lawyers, Jonathan Cuneo of Washington, D.C.

The suit is similar to a whistle-blower suit filed last year by former ERB investment officer Frank Foy, who claimed the ERB lost millions in investments made because of political pressure from Gov. Bill Richardson's administration. In fact, a lawyer for one of the defendants referred to the new suit as a "copycat lawsuit."

Among those named in the suit are ERB chairman Bruce Malott, former state Investment Officer Gary Bland, state Education Secretary Veronica Garcia, and former acting state treasurer Doug Brown.

The companies named in the suit are Aldus Equity, a Dallas company that served as the investment adviser to the ERB and State Investment Council for several years until being implicated in a pay-to-play scheme in New York, and Vanderbilt Capital Advisors, a Chicago firm that is the center of the Foy lawsuit.

Also listed as defendants are "John Doe #1," who is described as a former chief of staff and campaign manager for Richardson's presidential run, and "John Doe #2," who is described as "a Santa Fe broker," the son of a Richardson friend, a political contributor and the husband of Richardson's former international protocol officer.

These descriptions fit former Richardson chief of staff Dave Contarino and broker Marc Correra, respectively. Both have been named in the Foy lawsuit. Like "John Doe #2," Correra made millions in finder's fees for ERB investments. Between his fees for the ERB transactions and those by the State Investment Council, Correra shared in some $22 million. Correra's lawyer has denied wrongdoing.

Asked why the suit doesn't come out and name either Contarino or Correra, Cuneo replied, "Without confirming or denying identities, we recognize these are sensitive allegations and involve allegations of political influence peddling linked to highest levels of the New Mexico government. We wanted to be responsible and diligent and obtain confirmatory discovery before revealing that part of our case."

Like the Foy suit, Hill's suit claims New Mexico lost $90 million in flawed Vanderbilt investments through an alleged pay-to-play scheme. Vanderbilt officials donated about $15,000 to Richardson's presidential campaign.

Administration and ERB officials have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Hill in her suit contends that even if the Vanderbilt investment wasn't made for political purposes, it was a "wholly reckless and inappropriate" investment that was likely to suffer a major loss.

The suit also quotes Saul Meyer, of Aldus Equity, who also is named as a defendant.

Meyer in October pleaded guilty to securities fraud in New York. His plea allocution included the statements, "On numerous occasions, however, contrary to my fiduciary duty, I ensured that Aldus recommended certain proposed investments that were pushed on me by politically connected individuals in New Mexico. ... I did this knowing that these politically connected individuals or their associates stood to benefit financially or politically from the investments and that the investments were not necessarily in the best economic interest of New Mexico."

Meyer's conviction led to some State Investment Council members successfully pushing for Bland's resignation as state investment officer in October. Bland has denied wrongdoing.

"This copycat lawsuit does nothing more than burden the New Mexico Courts, the State, the NMERB, and the parties by multiplying the existing proceedings," said Gregg Fallick, an Albuquerque lawyer representing Malott in an e-mail response to a reporter's question. "The complaint simply parrots the allegations in the prior lawsuits, which in large part already have been discredited. It serves no purpose other than attempting to generate more legal fees, particularly for the East Coast class-action lawyers driving the suit. This multiplication of the lawsuits and the lawyers provides no conceivable benefit to retirees or to the State of New Mexico."

The retirement fund, as of the end of the year, had an estimated $8.3 billion, ERB Director Jan Goodwin said Tuesday, up 28 percent for the year.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.