Cobell lawsuit settlement proposed

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The federal government offered a $3.4 billion settlement Tuesday in the 13-year-old Cobell class-action lawsuit regarding its mismanagement of more than 300,000 individual Indian trust accounts.

Of that amount, $1.4 billion — minus attorney fees — will be distributed to class members to compensate them for their historical accounting claims, and to resolve potential claims that prior U.S. officials mismanaged the administration of trust assets.

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