Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Crow Tribe's financial management operations.

GAO found that the: (1) Tribe has had continuing internal control and accounting problems; (2) Tribe was not aware of the total amount it owed to creditors; and (3) Tribe's comptroller stated that the accounting records were unauditable. GAO also found that, in 1988, a public accounting firm reported that: (1) there was no evidence that the Tribe disbursed funds for other than authorized governmental purposes; (2) the Tribe did not properly document over $80,000 of disbursements; and (3) the Tribe was not using its existing accounting system. In addition, GAO found that the Tribe has initiated action to improve its financial operations, including the acquisition of a new accounting system.