Sec. of State Duran faces new identity theft charges involving former state senator

A special agent for the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office filed a criminal complaint in First Judicial District Court Friday charging Secretary of State Dianna Duran with felony identity theft for allegedly falsely identifying a former state senator as the treasurer of her 2010 campaign for Secretary of State and using his name on official documents.

The charges stem from a Sept. 27 article in the Santa Fe New Mexican in which former state senator Don Kidd, who Duran listed as treasurer for her 2010 campaign, told the reporter he had never worked in any capacity as treasurer for her 2010 campaign.

“If she listed me, she did it on her own,” Kidd told the New Mexican. “I didn’t sign any checks or pay any bills for her, and that’s what a campaign treasurer does.”

Kidd is the CEO and Chairman of the Board for Western Commerce Bank in Carlsbad. He served as District 34 Senator from 1993-2005.

Agents for the AG’s Office contacted Kidd after reading the New Mexican article. He told agents he had not worked with Duran since about 2004 when they served in the state Senate together.

Campaign reports for Duran’s 2010 campaign lists Kidd as her treasurer, but Kidd told investigators that the address and phone number listed were not his and that a Wells Fargo bank allegedly associated with his name in the report did not exist, as he had never had a Wells Fargo bank account.

Kidd did tell investigators he had contributed to the campaign but that that had been his only involvement.

AG’s Office agents say there were 10 campaign reports for Duran’s 2010 campaign that list him as treasurer, which Kidd again said was false.

Nine of the campaign reports were filed in 2010 and the 10th was filed in Oct. 2013, saying the remaining balance from the 2010 campaign would be transferred to Duran’s 2014 campaign account.

When the AG’s Office cross-checked the reports with bank statements, they found more than 100 transactions totaling more than $10,000 that were never listed as expenditures by her campaign, according to the criminal complaint.

When asked why he thought Duran would use his name as treasurer for her campaign, Kidd told agents, “I have no idea. I just don’t know, that’s amazing.”

Duran also faces 64 separate charges related to her campaign finance reports, including embezzlement and fraud, after a separate investigation by the AG’s Office revealed she allegedly transferred thousands of dollars from campaign accounts to personal accounts while gambling at state casinos.

She has pleaded not guilty to the 64 charges.

The AG’s Office filed a motion in district court late Friday that seeks a penalty enhancement in that case because of her status as a public official.

She could pay up to $500,000 in fines if the motion is granted and she is convicted.

This story first appeared at KOB.com