Thursday, June 07, 2007

Mashpee Wampanoag, Strather involved with Abramoff and associates


From a previous post at the Cape Cod Times online


2005
A lobbyist for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council is implicated in the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, two high-powered lobbyists accused of bilking $45 million from Indian tribes. Kevin Ring, a former Abramoff associate and current lobbyist for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, comes under Justice Department scrutiny, as do three other former lobbyists with Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig.

July 2005
The Bureau of Indian Affairs promises to rule by early 2007 on the Mashpee Wampanoag bid for federal recognition.

Nov. 2005
Kevin Ring is implicated in the ongoing U.S. Dept. of Justice investigation of Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon. E-mails recently made public indicate Jack Abramoff personally lobbied Interior Department officials on the Mashpee tribe's behalf. This comes after Wampanoag tribal leaders said they only had a marginal relationship with embattled Republican lobbyist Abramoff.

December 2006
A lawsuit is filed by four members of the tribe in Barnstable Superior Court that claims financial malfeasance by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's board of directors. The lawsuit seeks to freeze the tribe's finances until Wampanoag leaders provide details on their business practices, including their relationship with real estate and casino developer Herb Strather.

Dec. 18, 2006
The tribal council, the tribe's administrative arm, votes to shun the four plaintiffs - Stephanie Tobey-Roderick, Michelle Fernandes, Amelia Bingham and her son, Stephen Bingham, and a fifth member, Michelle Russell - but does not notify them until almost a month later.

Dec. 21, 2006
Barnstable Superior Court Judge Richard Connon hears the case. He issues a ruling on Dec. 29 denying the petition to freeze the assets. However, Connon does order council officials to allow plaintiffs to see the financial books. By this time, the members are already shunned.

2007
The four plaintiffs, including tribal elder Amelia Bingham, and a fifth tribe member receive letters about the temporary ban in mid-January. The ''shunning'' prevents them from participating in any tribal activities, holding tribal offices or receiving tribal membership benefits for seven years.

February 2007
The office of state Attorney General Martha Coakley reviews the complaints of four tribe members who sued the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council alleging fiscal improprieties between council officers and Detroit casino developer Herb Strather.

Sources: Cape Cod Times Archives, ''Son of Mashpee'' by Earl Mills Sr. and Alicja Mann.

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