7/23/09
The Rio Arriba County Sheriffs Department has seized computer records, mountains of paperwork and a bag of marijuana from the Abiquiu home and vehicles of ex-Jemez Mountain School District Business Manager Kathy Borrego and her husband, Jerry Archuleta, court documents show.
The Sheriff’s deputies raided Borrego’s and Archuleta’s residence on County Road 84 in Abiquiú around noon July 14 after obtaing a search warrant July 13 in an ongoing felony embezzlement and forgery investigation involving both parties.
Jerry Archuleta was also implicated in the affidavit because he and Borrego hold a joint account at Del Norte Credit Union. There are also suspicions that he, and possibly Borrego, may have been pilfering money from the Abiquiú Land Grant, where he has served as treasurer (see related story).
The investigation was started in June when Jemez Mountain Superintendent Adan Delgado contacted the Sheriff’s Department after two payroll employees noticed “suspicious” and “out of sequence” checks, according to the affidavit for the search warrant. The report states Delgado told deputies he confronted Borrego about the dubious payments, she admitted to writing the checks and then promised to get a loan from her father to repay the money. She was fired from her $66,975 finance job the same month.
In a separate investigation, State Auditor Hector Balderas’ office is still conducting an audit of 12 Jemez Mountain bank accounts. That number is up from the 10 accounts the State Auditor originally reported would be investigated, indicating the scope of Borrego’s embezzlement is larger than the $292,000 first reported.
Balderas would not put forth a figure yet but said the delay in fixing a dollar amount is due to the fact that “conditions have increased.”
A receipt of evidence from the Sheriff’s Department shows police confiscated four computer towers, a jump drive, a purse and piles of financial documents stashed throughout Borrego’s home. Investigators also seized papers and records from interior compartments of two Harley Davidson motorcycles, a 2007 Cadillac Escalade, and three other vehicles belonging to Borrego and Archuleta, according to the receipt.
The Sheriff’s Department also picked up multiple water bongs and a plastic bag containing marijuana — in addition to miscellaneous bank statements, paperwork and casino cards — belonging to Borrego’s 24-year-old daughter, Rosana Lopez, a separate receipt states.
Lopez was included in the search because financial records show she and Borrego have a joint account at Zia Credit Union, the affidavit states. Borrego’s Zia accounts are also being targeted in a concurrent Española Police Department investigation for embezzlement and fraud, according to a Department report.
Zia officials advised the Sheriff’s Department that Borrego closed her personal account there June 5 and transferred the remaining balance into the joint account she held with Lopez, according to the affidavit for the search warrant. In the affidavit, Sheriff’s Det. Adam Archuleta said a review of bank records showed a pattern of monetary transfers from Borrego’s accounts into Lopez’s.
Bank records show “hundreds of thousands of dollars being deposited, withdrawn or transferred from Borrego’s accounts on a regular basis,” according to the affidavit.
“(Borrego) was compliant,” Det. Archuleta said. “Everything was pretty much out in the house, and she was very cooperative.”
No charges have been filed in the case, and no one has been arrested. Det. Archuleta said formal charges could be filed soon but declined to give a more precise date, or the amount of money belived stolen, because the investigation is still developing.
Calls to the Borrego household were not returned as of Tuesday.