Navajo Nation discretionary fund cases drawing to close

Two legal cases remain after nearly 80 onetime lawmakers originally were charged with illegally drawing money from a slush fund in what became common practice on the reservation.

Tribal officials were accused of concocting all sorts of ways to get the money meant for Navajos facing extreme financial hardship.

The requests included college tuition for a toddler, medical and travel expenses that turned out to be fake, vehicle repairs for a 9-year-old kid and home renovations for a teenager.

The fund was intended for elderly Navajos on fixed incomes, the unemployed, students enrolled in academic programs, burial expenses and other limited circumstances.

The number of cases overwhelmed the tribal court, which estimated it would take a decade to resolve them and said every defendant who wanted a jury trial had to pay for it.

[...] in July 2011, nearly all the criminal complaints were dismissed and replaced with a civil lawsuit accusing a broader group of tribal officials of defrauding the tribal government.