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TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2003

Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles will not settle the Cobell trust fund lawsuit because "there is no supporting evidence" that Indian beneficiaries have been cheated out of billions of dollars, The New York Times reports.

Griles and other government officials "ridiculed" claims that $137 billion has gone unaccounted. "Nobody has shown me that there has been a loss," Griles said. "They haven't provided one shred of evidence."

Of the figure, an Interior official told The Denver Post: "The assertion that there is $137 billion missing appears to be totally devoid of logic or reason."

Attorneys for a class action suit representing more than 500,000 beneficiaries arrived at the figure through an analysis of oil, gas and other activity. Papers filed in federal court provide documentation of the claim.

The Department of Interior admits that at least $13 billion has passed through the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust. None of it has been accounted.

Get the Story:
Indian-accounts gap grows into a chasm (The Denver Post 1/7)
American Indians Say Government Has Cheated Them Out of Billions (The New York Times 1/7)
Username: indianzcom, Password: indianzcom

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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