The plaintiff in the alleged pay-to-play lawsuit involving the Educational Retirement Board and the State Investment Council has filed a complaint saying he was wrongfully denied records under the Inspection of Public Records Act.

The request by Frank Foy asked for "any and all records" related to board or advisory group meetings, Vanderbilt Capitol Advisors, Pioneer Investment Group, ERB chairman Bruce Malott, Meyners and Co., State Investment Officer Gary Bland and Foy, among other things.

The ERB denied the request, saying in part that it is overly broad. The complaint is against the ERB, Malott and Bland.

Malott's attorney, Marty Esquivel, said Malott shouldn't have been included in the complaint and "was not involved at all" in anything related to the records requests.

He suggested that Victor Marshall, Foy's attorney, has no evidence Malott was involved, but Marshall said he does.

A spokesman for Bland declined to comment and Jan Goodwin, executive director of the ERB, didn't return a call seeking comment.

Marshall denounced the decision in a statement.

"The ERB is claiming that it can refuse to produce any public records if it believes the records might be used in a lawsuit. The ERB's position should be of concern to anyone who uses (the Inspection of Public Records Act)," he said. Marshall for more than 20 years has represented The New Mexican and its owner, Robin Martin.

The complaint says the ERB is trying to "cover up activities at the ERB which might violate the criminal laws of New Mexico and the United States."

In its letter denying the records, attorneys retained by the ERB said Foy's request was overly broad and "uncertain in scope" and maintained that some of the information he's seeking may be available online. The firm, Canepa and Vidal, also said that it couldn't determine the types of records sought or for what time frame. In addition, the denial letter says the request duplicates a subpoena already issued in the case and "is an effort to avoid the applicable rules of procedure governing discovery."

The State Investment Council, which Bland heads, also denied a records request by Foy. It said some records requested are protected by attorney-client privilege, executive privilege or contain confidential commercial information.

The pay-to-play lawsuit filed by Foy, who is the former chief investment officer at ERB, alleges Bland and Malott were instructed by Dave Contarino, longtime adviser to Gov. Bill Richardson, to invest with Vanderbilt Financial and associated companies in exchange for political contributions from the firm's employees. According to federal campaign finance records, Vanderbilt, its employees and their families contributed more than $15,000 to Richardson's presidential campaign.

Bland, Malott and Contarino have denied any wrongdoing.

At the heart of the complaint is an allegation that the state invested $90 million with Vanderbilt companies, $40 million from ERB and $50 million from SIC. The state received dividends from the investment totaling about $3.7 million. But sometime since May 2007, "Vanderbilt has informed the ERB and the SIC not to expect any more from its investment," the lawsuit claims.

Vanderbilt, a defendant in the suit, is a subsidiary of Pioneer Investments of Boston, which is owned by Unicredito Italiana, a large European bank.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.