A Tribe Acted Within Its Authority by Removing BIE Funds From Account of Tribally Controlled School

The OIG investigated allegations that a tribe had improperly removed funds from the bank account of a tribally controlled school funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). We investigated whether the tribe exceeded its authority in removing the funds and whether any of the funds had been stolen. We found that the tribe did not exceed its authority by removing the funds and that no funds had been stolen. We found that the tribe removed the funds as part of an effort to spend down a $3 million surplus that had accumulated in the school’s account over several years.