Lawsuit says district court admin stole $21,000 in retirement fraud

The former head of operational duties for the 3rd Judicial District Court defrauded the county’s highest court of more than $21,000 after he was terminated, according to a lawsuit the court filed against him.  

The lawsuit filed in June claims that former Chief Executive Officer David Borunda, who oversaw the nonjudicial court staff and coordinated the complex paperwork required to keep the court working, told the court he was eligible for certain retirement benefits under the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association when they moved to terminate him for poor performance in May 2023.

“Defendant lied to Plaintiffs about his eligibility status to retire, causing Plaintiff to unknowingly overpay Plaintiff in the amount of $21,865.28,” the lawsuit said, adding that the court wants Borunda to pay that money back.

In New Mexico, most public employees are entitled to certain retirement benefits in exchange for their years of service. To qualify, employees must have worked a certain number of years.  

In this case, the court alleges Borunda would have had to work another eight to 10 years to receive a payout for about 600 hours of unused time off. The lawsuit contends Borunda did not qualify for that benefit but told the court he did. As a result, he received $36,745.84. He was only entitled to about $15,000, the lawsuit claims. 

When the court requested Borunda to prove he was eligible or pay the money back, Borunda promised to do so. That never happened, the lawsuit said.  

As of Nov. 27, court records show that Borunda has not retained a lawyer and has, so far, chosen to represent himself.  

“I again dispute the allegations of the complaint, and it was agreed that my PTO was to be given to me as severance. I did not deliberately deceive anyone as to my ability to retire as I was forced into retirement,” Borunda said in his response, adding that he intended to seek disability payments but never achieved them.  

In fact, most of Borunda’s self-written response — which was laden with incorrect grammar and typos — focused on rebutting allegations that he was terminated because of performance issues.  

According to the court’s lawsuit, eight of the nine district judges met on May 25, 2023, to discuss Borunda’s future with the court.  

The lawsuit said that some of the judges felt Borunda’s leadership led to a morale decline among court staff and said he failed to secure funding for a proposed expansion to the court and lost a grant, leading to an employee being laid off. They ultimately voted 5-2 to terminate him. Chief Judge Conrad Perea gave Borunda the option to retire in lieu of being fired, the lawsuit said.

Borunda, in response, said he secured funding for the expansion and tried to secure the grant. He also said that the morale issues of the court had more to do with the judges than him.  

“The morale issues at the Court are directly related to staff being overworked and treated unprofessionally,” Borunda said.

The 3rd District judges recused themselves from the case. In their place, the state Supreme Court appointed Nancy Franchini, a district judge in Bernalillo County, to oversee the case.  

The matter was scheduled for a hearing on Dec. 2.