{"id":114180,"date":"2019-09-05T11:50:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T18:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=114180"},"modified":"2019-09-16T13:26:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T20:26:04","slug":"mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/","title":{"rendered":"Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Treasurers Subpoenaed by Federal Grand Jury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current and former chief financial officers of Massachusetts\u2019 Mashpee Wampanoag tribe have been subpoenaed for reasons that are currently unclear, The Cape Cod Times<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Mashpee\"
Current Mashpee treasurer Gordon Harris (left) and his predecessor Robert Hendricks have both been issued subpoenas, adding to the political unrest within the tribe. Council member Aaron Tobey Jr. (right) believes there could be more court orders to come. (Image: Mashpee Wampanoag Government)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One source told The Times<\/em> that the court orders for Treasurer Gordon Harris and his predecessor, Robert Hendricks, were connected to a federal grand jury investigation, which the US Attorney\u2019s Office in the District of Massachusetts was unable to confirm or deny when contacted by the newspaper.<\/p>\n

The subpoenas will add to the sense of political turmoil that has engulfed the tribe since the Department of the Interior reversed an Obama-era decision to take land into trust for the Mashpee reservation in September 2018.<\/p>\n

The dramatic reversal sunk the tribe\u2019s plans for a $1 billion casino, which would have been built in partnership with Genting. The Malaysian casino giant pulled the funding that was propping up Mashpee operations, leaving the tribe in financial distress and $500 million in debt.<\/p>\n

Power Struggle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A faction within the tribe has attempted to remove current Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell, his right-hand woman Jessie \u201cLittle Doe\u201d Baird, as well as Harris.<\/p>\n

Petitions that circulated earlier this year received 120 certified signatures approving Harris\u2019 removal and 104 to remove Cromwell, forcing an election which will be held on Sept. 15. A petition to remove Baird fell short of the 100 signatures required.<\/p>\n

\n

In June, an anonymous robocall began circulating, alleging that $250 million<\/a> was missing from the Mashpee tribal fund.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cTo date, we as tribal members, not know how this money is spent,\u201d claimed the call. \u201cOnly Chairman Cromwell and Treasurer Gordon Harris have knowledge and access to how our $250 million has been spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are solely relying on federal grant dollars … this means our tribal elders, youth and at-risk members are suffering while (Tribal Council) continues to use grant funding for their salaries,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n

Trump Gets Involved<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last January, Cromwell was temporarily\u00a0stripped of his financial responsibilities\u00a0towards the tribe because he owed $36,901 in unpaid federal taxes, according to divorce proceedings. He has been paid more than $1 million since he took office in 2009, according to the petition that called for his removal.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a bill has been introduced in Congress that would restore the Mashpee\u2019s reservation and reignite the casino project. It was passed by the House<\/a> in June, but its slim chance of success in the Senate deteriorated after it caught the eye of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Trump claimed via Twitter it was a \u201cspecial interest casino bill\u201d that was \u201cunfair and doesn\u2019t treat Native Americans equally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subpoenas Confirmed by Tribe<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Harris and Hendricks subpoenas were confirmed at a recent meeting of the Tribal Council, the minutes of which have been seen by The Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Council referred to the court orders without going into any detail about the case and voted to hire legal counsel for the two men.<\/p>\n

According to the minutes, when asked if he knew whether anyone else in the tribal government, past or present, had been issued a court order, council member Aaron Tobey Jr, said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if there were.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current and former chief financial officers of Massachusetts\u2019 Mashpee Wampanoag tribe have been subpoenaed for reasons that are currently unclear, The Cape Cod Times reports. One source told The Times that the court orders for Treasurer Gordon Harris and his predecessor, Robert Hendricks, were connected to a federal grand jury investigation, which the US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":114181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMashpee Wampanoag Treasurers Subpoenaed by Federal Grand Jury<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mashpee Wampanoag discontent grows as a robocall in Massachusetts calls for the heads of leadership, alleging serious financial mismanagement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mashpee Wampanoag Treasurers Subpoenaed by Federal Grand Jury\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mashpee Wampanoag discontent grows as a robocall in Massachusetts calls for the heads of leadership, alleging serious financial mismanagement.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-05T18:50:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-16T20:26:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mashpee.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"790\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/\",\"name\":\"Mashpee Wampanoag Treasurers Subpoenaed by Federal Grand Jury\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mashpee.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-05T18:50:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-16T20:26:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Mashpee Wampanoag discontent grows as a robocall in Massachusetts calls for the heads of leadership, alleging serious financial mismanagement.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mashpee-wampanoag-treasurers-subpoenaed-by-federal-grand-jury\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mashpee.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mashpee.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":790,\"caption\":\"Current Mashpee treasurer Gordon Harris (left) and his predecessor Robert Hendricks have both been issued subpoenas, adding to the political unrest within the tribe. 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