The National Indian Gaming Commission sent a letter to tribes on Monday emphasizing the need to submit timely casino audits.

In the letter, NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen said "an annual outside audit is a bedrock requirement for a tribe in its regulation of Indian gaming. The audit helps to ensure that a tribe's gaming operation can account for its revenue and that the tribe will be the primary beneficiary of the gaming operation."

Federal regulations require each gaming tribe to hire a certified public accountant to conduct an annual audit of the financial statements of each of its gaming operations. Tribes have to submit the audit reports to the NIGC within 120 days following the end of a gaming operation's fiscal year.

Also, tribes are also required to submit a copy of a report prepared by a certified public accountant verifying the tribe is in material compliance with tribal internal control standards (TICS) or a tribally approved variance that has received NIGC concurrence.

"We are aware most tribes provide relevant documents in a timely fashion, but felt the need to announce to all tribes that NIGC will take steps that will result in enforcement action and possible civil fine assessments in the future," Hogen said.

A copy of the letter was not posted on the NIGC's website. But the agency's compliance report shows which tribes have and have not submitted their audits in a timely fashion. The report can be found at http://www.nigc.gov/nigc/nigcControl?option=COMPLIANCE_REPORT