Health clinic CEO charged at Rocky Boy

for embezzling

Another Chippewa Cree tribal official has been indicted on charges of embezzling federal money from a Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation entity, including a charge she used some of the money to visit her husband who was in prison for embezzling from the tribe while he was its chair.

A federal grand jury indicted Fawn Hahn Tadios on four felony charges stemming from allegations she stole more than $50,000 from the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s Health Board and clinic while she was chief executive officer.

The grand jury was convened as the result of a cooperative investigation by the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Tadios pleaded not guilty in federal District Court in Great Falls Tuesday. Federal Magistrate Judge Keith Strong released Tadios on special conditions and set a scheduling conference with U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen July 3.

The Havre Daily News last Thursday began requesting tribal officials confirm a rumor that Tadios had resigned as CEO of the Health Board. The tribal government has not yet responded.

A July 8 hearing on an appeal of a restraining order Tadios obtained against former Business Committee Chair Ken Blatt St. Marks still is pending. Tadios requested the order, saying St. Marks harassed her by yelling at her and by making sexually suggestive comments.

In Hill County Justice Court, Judge Audrey Barger issued the one-year restraining order preventing or limiting contact between St. Marks and Tadios.

St. Marks has maintained that Tadios’ request for a restraining order, and his being suspended and then removed as tribal chair, stem from his investigation of fraud and abuse in the Chippewa Cree tribal government. Allegations include wrongdoing at the Health Board and in the regional water project, as well as his allegations of finding embezzlement and abuse in other tribal departments.

A trial is scheduled for Nov. 12 on 17 charges filed against Tony Belcourt, CEO of the Chippewa Cree Construction Corp .; his wife, Hailey Lee Belcourt, Chippewa Cree Business Committee member John “Chance” Houle; along with Tammy and Mark Leischner and Howard James Eastlick, all of Laurel. Those charges allege the defendants embezzled federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money allocated to the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water Project, on which Chippewa Cree Construction is the lead contractor.

The tribe’s Business Committee, in an unannounced meeting, suspended St. Marks as chair March 15. It removed him as chair in a closed meeting March 25, saying in a press release his removal was due to “neglect of duty and gross misconduct.”

St. Marks has maintained that his removal was illegal and he still is chair, and has said federal whistleblower protections have been violated.

The Chippewa Cree Tribe Election Committee first approved St. Marks as a candidate in the special election to fill the tribal chair slot emptied by his removal, then disqualified him after another candidate protested. St. Marks appealed his removal, and his candidacy — and the special election — still are pending.

One of the charges against Tadios alleges that between Dec. 15, 2011, and Sept. 17, 2012, Tadios used tribal clinic funds to visit her husband, Raymond “Jake” Parker, who was serving a 16-month sentence in federal prison camp in Yankton, S.D., for embezzling tribal funds.

Parker resigned as tribal council chair May 23, 2011, then pleaded guilty the next day in federal court in Great Falls to a charge he used a credit card issued to the Chippewa Cree government for nearly $60,000 in personal expenses.

According to the grand jury indictment, Tadios paid for visits to Paker using a tribal credit card and receiving travel advancements and reimbursement, costing the tribal clinic $17,922 of money it received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The second count of the same charge, theft from an Indian tribal government receiving federal grants, between Jan. 27 and Nov. 8, 2012, embezzled $7,780 in clinic grant funds using a credit card for her personal expense.

The third charge, theft from an Indian tribal organization, alleges that between Nov. 15, 2011, and Nov. 8, 2012, Tadios embezzled $25,702 for her use and the use of another, although the charges do not name the other party.

In the federal courts, indictments are sealed until the defendant enters a plea, and no information, including arraignment dates, are released.

The fourth charge, theft from a health care facility, charges Tadios with embezzling “over $100” from the Chippewa Cree Health Board between Dec. 15, 2011, and Nov. 8, 2012.