On August 15, 2016, the Crow Tribe entered into a settlement agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in which the tribe agreed to issue BIA a check for $2,267,469. This payment will settle a dispute between the parties stemming from an audit finding that the tribe had misappropriated $2,267,469 in Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds it had received via BIA. The Crow Tribe was supposed to use the FHWA funds to construct transit buildings but instead used them for other, unauthorized purposes.

 

Per the settlement agreement, BIA will use the money to construct the aforementioned transit buildings on the tribe’s behalf. Upon the tribe’s final acceptance of the transit buildings, BIA will withdraw the bill of collection it previously issued to the tribe to recoup the misappropriated funds.

 

The settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and is neither an admission of wrongdoing by Crow Tribe nor a concession by Federal and State Governments that their contentions were not well founded.