Another laptop seized in investigation of N.M. search and rescue team

Feds looking for evidence of falsified credentials on computer used by chief of disbanded task force

Federal investigators have seized a second laptop computer used by a former chief of a state search and rescue team as a part of an investigation into whether officials falsified ethics training certificates to keep federal grant money flowing to the elite squad.

Newly unsealed court records show investigators on June 22 seized a second state laptop that was assigned to Gregory Lee, former chief of New Mexico Task Force 1, which has been disbanded.

The task force was part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Team, set up to respond to disasters. Lee served as the task force’s bureau chief and program manager starting in 2012, according to his online résumé.

Federal investigators said they learned in May of the second state laptop issued to Lee. Another state laptop assigned to Lee was seized in March, but it had been “wiped clean,” according to investigators.

Robert Vargas, special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security inspector general, said in a search warrant affidavit for the second laptop that he’s investigating allegations that Lee accessed the FEMA website and took ethics training courses for task force members to generate certifications.

Vargas wrote he is looking into allegations of wire fraud and false statements by top members of Task Force 1. It had been out of federal compliance for several years because its members did not meet training standards or certification requirements, according to the agent.

FEMA terminated its agreement to fund the task force in September 2015 after an anonymous tipster informed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the training and certification allegations.

Lee resigned in August amid the federal investigation and is now the chief of the Fire Department in Pampa, Texas. Lee did not return a voicemail left on his work telephone number.

Task Force 1 had been managed by the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security. The agency has been plagued with financial mismanagement and delays in allocating emergency assistance, according to the State Auditor’s Office.

The state Department of Homeland Security discovered the state laptop used by Lee and notified its federal counterpart.