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Tag Archives: government corruption
10/27/2011 Navajo Times: Bogus bonuses – 2 Tuba City officials removed for scamming illegal bonuses
10/27/2011 Navajo Times: Bogus bonuses – 2 Tuba City officials removed for scamming illegal bonuses By Bill Donovan, Special to the Times: Two officials for Toh Nanees Dizi Chapter has been removed from office in the investigation into five officials accused of illegally paying themselves bonuses totaling over $80,000. Jimmy Holgate, who served on the chapter governing council, was removed on Tuesday when he failed to show up for a hearing before the Office of Hearings and Appeals. The hearing included witnesses who had traveled all of the way from Tucson. As a result of the default judgment, Holgate will have to reimburse the chapter $7,644 and cannot run for public office for five years.... Read More
10/10/2011 Navajo Times: Court orders protects documents, Balaran ends job: ‘going fishing’
10/10/2011 Navajo Times: Court orders protects documents, Balaran ends job: ‘going fishing’ By Bill Donovan, Special to the Times: Alan Balaran, who stepped down as special prosecutor on Friday, stirred up a hornet’s nest with his court filings over concerns for financial documents housed in Administration Building No. 1. It’s an issue that seemingly didn’t want to die even after Window Rock District Court Judge Carol Perry ruled in a hearing on Sept. 26 that no documents could be removed from the building. Last Friday, Perry issued a formal order saying no documents could be taken out of the building or destroyed without the court’s permission.... Read More
8/11/2011 Navajo Times: Deferred comp leads to IRS concerns, issues
8/11/2011 Navajo Times: Deferred comp leads to IRS concerns, issues By Bill Donovan: Special to the Times: WINDOW ROCK, Aug. 11, 2011: Many members of the Navajo Nation Council who were not re-elected last November received a lot less deferred compensation than they probably expected when they left office. Thank or blame the Internal Revenue Service for that. Under Navajo law, departing elected officials receive a nice little nest egg – or a big one, if they’ve been in office for a long time. In theory it’s pay they earned but was set aside in recognition of the fact that it may take them some time to find a new job.... Read More
8/11/2011 Gallup Independent: Ethics complaints filed against Tuba City officials
8/11/2011 Gallup Independent: Ethics complaints filed against Tuba City officials: By Kathy Helms Dine Bureau: WINDOW ROCK – Five To’ Nanees’ Dizi Chapter officials have been cited in complaints alleging violations of the Ethics in Government Law for allegedly paying themselves more than $84,000 in bonuses between Oct. 1, 2009, and March 10, including $3,000 each in Christmas bonuses. Lewnell Harrison of the Navajo Nation Ethics and Rules Office filed the complaints July 18 seeking immediate removal of the officials and asking that they be ordered to pay restitution. If found guilty, they would be prohibited from holding public office for five years. Harrison said if officials stipulate to the charges and forgo hearings before the Office of Hearing and Appeals, it will be considered an admission of guilt. The To’ Nanees’ Dizi Chapter is a local governance-certified chapter run by a Council of Naat’aanii. Named in the complaints are: Max D. Goldtooth Sr., president of the Council of the Naat’aani; Robert Yazzie, vice president; Charlene Nez, secretary/treasurer; and members Helen Herbert and Jimmy Holgate.... Read More
Posted in government accountability
Tagged Charlene Nez, Gallup Independent, government accountability, government corruption, Helen Herbert, Jimmy Holgate, Jushua Lavar Butler, Max Goldtooth, Navajo Nation corruption, Navajo Nation Council, Robert Yazzie, To'Nanees' Dizi Chapter, transparency, Tuba City Chapter
11 Comments
8/3/2011 Gallup Independent: Dine´officials answer special prosecutor’s allegations
8/3/2011 Gallup Independent: Dine´ officials answer special prosecutor’s allegations By Kathy Helms, Dine Bureau: WINDOW ROCK – Former Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan and former Attorney General Louis Denetsosie have denied breaching their fiduciary duties to the Navajo people as alleged in a complaint filed last week by Special Prosecutor Alan Balaran. Attorney General Harrison Tsosie was out of the office Tuesday and unavailable for comment. Controller Mark Grant said he had no comment, and former Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. has not yet responded. Balaran has alleged that Morgan, acting in concert with other delegates, “unlawfully manipulated his position” to encourage other delegates to award approximately $50,000 in discretionary funds to some of his family members. ... Read More
Posted in government accountability
Tagged Attorney General Harrison Tsosie, Attorney General Louise Denetsosie, Balaran, Controller Mark Grant, discretionary funds, ethical duties, fiduciary responsibility, Gallup Independent, government corruption, Navajo Nation corruption, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, OnSat, President Joe Shirley, Special Prosecutor Alan Balaran
11 Comments
8/2/2011 Gallup Independent: Morgan, AG caught in prosecutor’s net: Complaint alleges Morgan manipulated position; attorneys general interfered with prosecution
8/2/2011 Gallup Independent: Morgan, AG caught in prosecutor’s net: Complaint alleges Morgan manipulated position; attorneys general interfered with prosecution By Kathy Helms, Dine Bureau: WINDOW ROCK – Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan “unlawfully manipulated his position” to encourage other delegates to award approximately $50,000 in discretionary funds to Morgan’s family members, according to the complaint filed last week by Special Prosecutor Alan Balaran alleging breach of fiduciary responsibility. In addition to the charge against Morgan and almost all 88 delegates of the 21st Navajo Nation Council, former Attorney General Louis Denetsosie and current Attorney General Harrison Tsosie are alleged to have breached their fiduciary and ethical duties in regard to defending former President Joe Shirley Jr. against the special prosecutor’s investigation into OnSat Network Communications Inc.... Read More
Posted in government accountability, trust fund
Tagged Attorney General Harrison Tsosie, Congroller Mark Grant, ethics, fiduciary responsibility, Gallup Independent, government accountability, government corruption, Lawrence T. Morgan, Navajo Nation Council, OnSat, President Joe Shirley, Special Prosecutor Alan Balaran
3 Comments
7/28/2011 Navajo Times: 142 face charges in slush fund scandal Delegates: Special prosecutor overstepped authority
7/28/2011 Navajo Times: 142 face charges in slush fund scandal Delegates: Special prosecutor overstepped authority By Bill Donovan Special to the Times: WINDOW ROCK, July 28, 2011: he Navajo Nation’s special prosecutor on Thursday carried through with his plans to file civil suits against members of the Navajo Nation Council in connection with allegations that they converted millions of dollars in discretionary funds to their own use. These replace the criminal charges Alan Balaran filed earlier against 77 former and present members of the Council and then dismissed them.... Read More
7/29/2011 AP Washington Post: Lawsuit accuses 78 current and former Navajo Nation Council members of fraud in use of funds
7/29/2011 AP Washington Post: Lawsuit accuses 78 current and former Navajo Nation Council members of fraud in use of funds: WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — A special prosecutor filed a lawsuit against 78 current and former Navajo Nation Council members alleging massive fraud in their use of $36 million in discretionary funds intended for Navajos in need. The lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the council members of unlawfully taking about $36 million belonging to the deeply impoverished American Indian reservation from 2005 through 2010 to benefit themselves and their families. The council receives millions of dollars a year through supplemental budget appropriations to dole out to elderly Navajos on fixed incomes, college students, organizations in need or Navajos looking for emergency funding. Any member of the nation can seek financial help from a single lawmaker every six months.... Read More
7/29/2011 Gallup Independent: ‘Brazzenness’ Navajo officials charged with misusing millions
7/29/2011 Gallup Independent: ‘Brazzenness’ Navajo officials charged with misusing millions By Kathy Helms, Dine Bureau: WINDOW ROCK – A lawsuit charging current and former top-level officials of the Navajo Nation – including former President Joe Shirley Jr. – with breach of fiduciary responsibility was filed Thursday with Window Rock District Court by Special Prosecutor Alan L. Balaran. The complaint alleges the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state grant and contract funds and the associated loss or drastic curtailing of programs vital to children, the elderly, and the indigent. “I filed a complaint against almost every delegate – except for the three or four that settled – against the ex-president, against the current and former attorneys general, against the controller and against the speaker,” Balaran said late Thursday. He also requested that those still in office “be removed from their jobs, do a full accounting, give up their salaries for those times that they were stealing from the people, and return everything.”... Read More
Posted in government accountability
Tagged Attorney General Harrison Tsosie, Attorney General Louis Denetsosie, conspiracy, Controller Mark Grant, discretionary funds, ethic violations, fidiciary responsibility, forgery, fraud, government corruption, Navajo Nation Council, President Ben Shelly, Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, theft, vice President Rex Lee Jim
4 Comments