The Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), Jonodev O. Chaudhuri, has given a Notice of Violation (NOV) stating that the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, headquartered in Burnett County, Wisconsin, is in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), NIGC regulations, and its tribal gaming ordinance, because the Tribe used net gaming revenue for purposes other than those permitted, according to a Notice of Violation (NOV) listed on the NIGC’s website.
Over 500 violations are listed. The Chairman has the authority to levy and collect civil fines of up to $52,596 per violation.
The Chair of the NIGC states in the NOV under Notification of Violation, in part:
“Normally the Chairman issues a Letter of Concern under 25 C.F.R 573.2 prior to bringing an enforcement action. In this case, however, given the pervasiveness and serious nature of the violations, coupled with the fact that many of the individuals identified in the NOV are still in a position to direct casino and net gaming revenues, the Chair has decided to proceed directly with a Notice of Violation (NOV).”
The Chair of the NIGC also states in the NOV under Uses of Net Gaming Revenue, in part:
“Throughout the review period, the gaming operation issued numerous check to individuals and entered them into the accounting system as expenses to the operation. Many of the payments - worth hundreds of thousands of dollars - were issued to the same small group of people, often with the only supporting document being a request for disbursement from the words “travel” or “consulting fees” scrawled in tot eh comments section. Upon further questioning by NIGC investigators, the Tribe was unable to produce documentation to support treating the payments as expenses of the gaming operation.”
Read the full Notice of Violations document including the breakdowns and amounts of violations by clicking below. Note: Depending on your device and browser you are using, you may be prompted to download the document.
NOTICE OF VIOLATION (PDF)
Last Update: Apr 22, 2019 11:49 am CDT
