Red Valley Chapter asks for probe

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — J.C. Begay, president of Red Valley Chapter, has asked the White Collar Crime Unit of the Navajo Nation to look into possible misconduct by former chapter administration employees and elected officials.

Begay said he has not yet had a response from White Collar Crime regarding a packet of information he submitted Nov. 23 which includes an audit conducted by the chapter’s acting community services coordinator, indicating missing property and possibly up to $45,000 in missing or misused funds.

Members of Red Valley Chapter approved a resolution 34-0 on Aug. 19 requesting technical assistance from the Navajo Nation Office of the Auditor General and the Local Governance Support Center in Shiprock.

Begay said that when he assumed office on March 16, 2007, prior chapter audits were brought to his attention. He found that previous defects in accounting and responsibility had not been addressed, leading him to seek an audit.

Red Valley Chapter is under sanction by the Auditor General’s Office due to prior poor financial management and activities.

In January 2006, the Budget and Finance Committee directed the Office of the Controller to withhold 10 percent of any Navajo Nation monies payable to the chapter until it implements a corrective action plan to correct prior deficiencies.

Begay said that since coming on board, he has noted there were two accounting systems, or general ledgers, and both had deficiencies in audit trail and reconciliation of actual balances with reported numbers.

He also found that the chapter has two checking accounts, but only one was recorded on the general ledger, that the chapter did not reconcile all general ledger accounts to actual balances on a timely basis, and that the chapter is not in compliance with filing its annual tax form.

A May 2005 follow-up review of Red Valley’s Corrective Action Plan by the Auditor General’s Office found that eight out of 12 corrective action measures had not been implemented.

DeWayne Johnson, acting community services coordinator for the chapter, sent a closeout general summary report to the Shiprock Local Governance Support Center last month indicating the status of Red Valley Chapter Government.

Johnson’s report indicates that only 50 percent to 60 percent of the corrective actions have been satisfied and that a full accurate balance of the cash receipts journal is not possible due to a missing receipt book.

Implementation of the Five Management System has just barely begun, Johnson said, stating that more education is critically needed for chapter leadership, staff and the community regarding the FMS. In addition, knowledge of the Local Governance Act is still unclear to the leadership and the community.

An inventory of the chapter’s fixed assets has never been conducted, Johnson said.