Montana tribe can’t account for $14.5 million
BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana’s Crow Indian Tribe has been unable to account for $14.5 million it received for transportation programs, marking the second time in less than two years the tribe has been faulted for its handling of federal grant money, government investigators disclosed Monday.
The finding from the U.S. Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General resulted from an audit of a contract that provided federal money to build and maintain highways, bridges and transit facilities on the tribe’s southeastern Montana reservation.
The audit obtained by The Associated Press showed the tribe was unable to provide documentation on payments it made to subcontractors and vendors between Oct. 1, 2012 and March 31, 2017. Investigators could not determine what happened to the money.
They faulted the tribe for having “deficient internal controls” over the money and said its accounting system was inadequate to handle federal funds.