Unsubstantiated Allegations of Fraud by a Tribal Transportation Consortium

The OIG conducted a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General into allegations that a tribal transportation consortium fraudulently received more than $9 million between 2012 and 2015 by collecting Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Roads Funds for tribes no longer affiliated with the consortium. We did not substantiate the allegations. We identified 24 tribes that were members of the consortium, and none of the representatives we spoke to corroborated the allegations. None of the representatives from tribes that had withdrawn from the consortium provided evidence that the consortium continued to collect their tribe’s BIA Roads Funds after they left. The consortium is a defunct entity and has not received BIA Roads Funds since 2015.