OST Employee Attempted To Conceal Purchase of Tribal Land

The OIG investigated allegations that an Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) employee and a tribal member agreed to disguise the purchase of tribal land as a gift conveyance from the tribal member. We also investigated allegations that the OST employee attempted to add allotments to the transaction without the tribal member’s knowledge and that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) employee forged the tribal member’s name on BIA documents filed in connection with the gift conveyance.We confirmed the OST employee and the tribal member agreed to disguise the sale of ownership interests in multiple allotments as a gift conveyance to the OST employee’s minor son. The OST employee paid the tribal member $2,700, but the tribal member canceled the transaction before it was executed. We did not find evidence that the OST employee altered the agreements to add allotments or that the BIA employee forged any documents.