A director of a foundation established by Gov. Bill Richardson — which collected more than $1.7 million from undisclosed contributors — once worked as a lobbyist for a corporation that manages private prisons for the state.

Joe Velasquez, a former senior adviser for Richardson's presidential campaign, in 2006 was a registered lobbyist in the state for GEO Care Inc., which at the time managed the troubled 230-bed Fort Bayard Medical Center east of Silver City. GEO Care is part of a private prison corporation that runs several New Mexico prisons and which has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Richardson's campaigns and other political activities.

GEO discontinued the Fort Bayard contract last year by mutual agreement with the state.

Velasquez was one of several members of Richardson's political team listed as a director of the Moving America Forward Foundation, which was formed as a public charity more than four years ago, about the same time Richardson started a similarly named political action committee, Moving America Forward.

Both had the stated goal of increasing voter participation among Hispanics and Native Americans.

Word of the foundation's fundraising efforts comes during an ongoing federal pay-to-play investigation that derailed Richardson's nomination for U.S. Commerce secretary. His administration also has been accused by a former state investment official — described by a Richardson spokesman as a "disgruntled former employee'' — of applying political pressure in investments by the State Investment Council and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board.

Unlike the Moving America Forward PAC, the foundation legally does not have to list individual contributors or expenditures.

However, the director of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said Monday that it would be wise for the foundation to disclose its donors.

"There's two stories now — what the foundation was doing and the secrecy story," Leonard DeLayo Jr. said. In cases like this, the "secrecy story" usually is worse than the actual facts of who contributed and where the money was spent, he said.

On Monday, the chairman of the state Republican Party called upon Democrat Richardson to disclose the donors. "Bill Richardson and his campaign workers are fighting to keep the identity of their donors secret, and New Mexicans want to know why," Harvey Yates said in a written statement. "Richardson can't pretend to support ethics reform in the state legislature while refusing to disclose his own financial contributors. ... At a minimum, Gov. Richardson should disclose any and all donors who have ever received New Mexico state contracts. That's the biggest question. Scandal is epidemic in New Mexico politics right now. Sunshine is more important than ever."

Asked whether Richardson thought it would be a good political move to disclose the contributors, spokesman Gilbert Gallegos replied in an e-mail, "I am not familiar with details of the Foundation or its donors as it was not related to state government and it did not do work in the state of New Mexico."

A copyrighted story in The Albuquerque Journal said Velasquez, when asked about his role in the foundation, said, "I had nothing to do with the foundation. I ran the MAF (Moving America Forward) Committee." He couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

The GEO Group contributed $43,750 to Richardson's 2006 re-election campaign. Two other GEO lobbyists registered in the state contributed a total of $7,500 to Richardson's 2006 race. And while Richardson was chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association, GEO kicked in $30,000 to that organization (though it contributed more than $90,000 to the Republican Governor's Association during those years). GEO and its board chairman George Zoley kicked in another $15,000 for Richardson's 2007 inauguration.

The company's political action committee and GEO executives contributed a total of $16,500 to Richardson's presidential campaign.

Richardson spokesmen have repeatedly denied any link between GEO's contributions and the company's lucrative business with New Mexico. In 2006, the contracts were estimated at $38 million. Since then, GEO began managing the new prison in Clayton.

According to the Secretary of State's Office lobbyist index, GEO has no registered lobbyists in the state.

Other directors of the foundation listed in IRS filings include longtime Richardson fundraiser Ed Romero; state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón; Loretta Armenta, president of Qwest New Mexico; former Richardson staffer and foreign affairs adviser Calvin Humphrey; and longtime Richardson fundraiser Anthony Correra.

Colón and Amanda Cooper, Richardson's former political director, who was listed as a paid board consultant on the foundation's IRS filings, did not return telephone calls for comment Monday.

In the Journal article, Romero and Armenta said their involvement was limited. Cooper told the Journal, "I can't comment on that," when asked about the foundation and its contributors.

The Center for Public Integrity first raised concerns about the foundation in October 2004. In an article published by the center, University of Miami law professor Frances Hill, identified as an acknowledged expert on political nonprofits, was quoted as saying, "The problem is when social-welfare organizations become redesigned into crypto-political committees. ... The problem is when they redesign them into political campaign vehicles."

The CPI article quoted Cooper saying Richardson wasn't involved in the operations of the foundation. "What's more, she emphasized, the foundation and the PAC operate independently of each other. He created these two organizations, she added, because he 'worried that Hispanic and American Indians were not fully realizing their voice.' "

But the CPI piece noted the address used by the foundation and the Moving America Forward PAC were the same. Cooper worked for both entities.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this story.

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