{"id":176394,"date":"2021-06-14T16:12:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T23:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/"},"modified":"2021-06-14T16:34:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T23:34:49","slug":"former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Quapaw Nation Chair Booted from Election Race, Denies Embezzlement Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former chairman of the Quapaw Nation<\/a> John Berrey\u2019s bid to regain political power lies in tatters today. That’s following the tribe\u2019s decision to disqualify him from seeking re-election as tribal vice-president.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Berrey has been accused of corruption and embezzlement and kicked out of the election process. He went on the offensive this week. (Image: Arkansas Business)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Berrey led the Nation for 20 years, presiding over its economic transformation into a major player in Oklahoma\u2019s tribal gaming industry. But he faces criminal complaints<\/a> in the Quapaw Tribal Court, where he is accused of multiple counts of conspiracy, theft, and abuse of office.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Quapaw Nation Business Committee voted 6-1 to ban Berrey from the election race, declaring him \u201cunsuitable for candidacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Misspent Millions\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The tribe is wealthy. It owns two casinos on its reservation in Oklahoma, the Quapaw Casino, and the Downstream Casino Resort, as well as the Saracen Resort in Arkansas, its historical homeland. It also owns a golf course in Missouri.<\/p>\n

But a forensic audit into the construction process of the Saracen discovered that $34 million in tribal funds may have been misspent on \u201cpay raises, bonuses, severance pay, and donations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The auditors believe Berrey and the Nation\u2019s former secretary treasurer, Tamara Smiley-Reeves, siphoned the money from the Development Authority without the approval of the Business Committee.<\/p>\n

\n

The Quapaw Tribal Gaming Authority instigated the audit after it began examining certain allegations against Berrey and others on social media regarding excessive bonuses paid to tribal leaders and casino executives. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Accompanying the criminal complaint is a civil lawsuit that seeks $7 million, plus damages, from Berrey and several of his former staff members, claiming fraud and unjust enrichment.<\/p>\n

He is also accused of treason against the Nation for filing since-abandoned defamation charges in a nontribal court related to the accusations against him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not About Me\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Berrey told The Joplin Globe<\/em> the decision to boot him from the process proved the Business Committee was \u201cterrified\u201d that he might expose them, implying corruption.<\/p>\n

He added that the Business Committee overruled the Election Committee in taking the decision, which was unprecedented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real story is not John Berrey,\u201d he claimed to the Globe<\/em>. \u201cThe story is the destruction of the assets and businesses of the Quapaw Nation, and the wealth is being detoured to non-Indian lawyers, and the pain that\u2019s being caused. It\u2019s really hurting several families and people within the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not received any due process afforded to me by the US Constitution and the Indian Civil Rights Act. I just hope and pray that I can get a fair shake in court,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former chairman of the Quapaw Nation John Berrey\u2019s bid to regain political power lies in tatters today. That’s following the tribe\u2019s decision to disqualify him from seeking re-election as tribal vice-president. Berrey led the Nation for 20 years, presiding over its economic transformation into a major player in Oklahoma\u2019s tribal gaming industry. But he faces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":176400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Quapaw Chair Booted from Election Race, Denies Corruption<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Quapaw Nation chair John Berrey re-election plan torpedoed by Business Committee after Saracen Resort corruption charges.\" \/>\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=\"Former Quapaw Chair Booted from Election Race, Denies Corruption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Quapaw Nation chair John Berrey re-election plan torpedoed by Business Committee after Saracen Resort corruption charges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/\" \/>\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=\"2021-06-14T23:12:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-14T23:34:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/johnberrey.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/\",\"name\":\"Former Quapaw Chair Booted from Election Race, Denies Corruption\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/johnberrey.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-14T23:12:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-14T23:34:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Former Quapaw Nation chair John Berrey re-election plan torpedoed by Business Committee after Saracen Resort corruption charges.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-quapaw-chair-booted-from-election-race-denies-corruption\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/johnberrey.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/johnberrey.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"John Berrey has been accused of corruption and embezzlement and kicked out of the election process. 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