New housing construction by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Photo from Lumbee Housing Department

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina agreed to a cut in federal housing funds to repay about $416,000 in unallowable expenses, The Fayetteville Observer reports.

The tribe will take the cut over two years, the paper said, after an audit showed that nearly $445,000 in Indian Housing Block Grant funds were misused. Most of the money ended up in the hands of tribal council members who received illegal stipends.

"Council ain't done nothing wrong," council member Terry Collin told the paper. "HUD approved it. Other tribes get stipends. I don't see why the Lumbee Tribal Council is penalized when other tribes are getting stipends."

Get the Story:
Lumbee Tribe to repay HUD with cuts in grant money (The Fayetteville Observer 6/25)
Jacobs: No secret stipends were illegal (The Laurinburg Exchange 6/21)

Related Stories:
Lumbee Tribe must repay nearly $445K in Indian housing funds (6/18)