Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe served with subpoena for financial records

By Jessica Hill
Posted Jul 15, 2020

Attorney says tribe is not the target of grand jury investigation.

MASHPEE — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston served a federal grand jury subpoena to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe last monthfor a hefty number of documents and financial records.

The news was shared with tribe members during a June 23 Tribal Council meeting.

Wampanoag officials had no comment Wednesday and referred all inquiries to tribal attorney Benjamin Wish.

“The government has informed the Tribe that it is not the target of the pending grand jury investigation,” Wish said in an email. “The Tribe intends to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office concerning the subpoena requests and anticipates that the Tribe will also cooperate with any other proper request for information. The Tribe remains focused on economic development and supporting its members during the ongoing pandemic.”

Tribal officials do not know whom the investigation is targeting, according to a source with knowledge of the case.

By “Tribe,” the subpoena refers to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and its affiliates, including the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority, Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Council and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council Inc., according to a copy of the June 5 letter that accompanied subpoena from the Justice Department.

The letter, signed by U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers, said: “Pursuant to an official investigation being conducted by a federal Grand Jury in the District of Massachusetts of suspected violations of federal criminal law, you are directed to furnish to the Grand Jury the documents described in the attached subpoena.”

The subpoena requests all personnel records for Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell, Treasurer Gordon Harris and former Treasurer Robert T. Hendricks, as well as Mark Harding and Louis Catarina Jr.  

Harding is the founder of WampWorx, a native-owned construction firm in Mashpee, and Catarina is the principal consultant and program manager for Strategic Quality Solutions. Harding and Catarina declined to comment.

In his role for the tribe, Catarina provided “strategic direction” and “management” and coordinated development of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Gaming Authority First Light Resort and Casino project, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also developed and managed operational finances and budgets. Catarina also served as a board member of the Taunton Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Gaming Authority.

Last year, the Times learned that Harris and Hendricks had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, although it was unclear for what reason.

Federal grand jury proceedings are secret, and comprise about two dozen citizens who serve as members for a term of 18 months. They examine documents and hear testimony to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to charge someone with a crime.

The personnel records requested in the subpoena include job titles, dates of employment, resumes, contracts and agreements, timecards, performance reviews, compensation, disciplinary records and grievances and complaints by or against the people listed. It also requested documentation regarding loans for those five people, including any loan repayment or forgiveness, fringe benefits and perks, and expense reports, according to a copy of the letter.

The subpoena asked for documentation of all payments between the tribe or its financial backer, Genting Malaysia, and those same people listed above between Jan.1, 2014, and April 30, 2020. The subpoena specified direct deposit records, copies of checks, records of cash payments and wire transfers.

The subpoena also requested documents dating back to 2011 relating to the Delahunt Group, as well as documents going back to 2014 for WampWorx and Strategic Quality Solutions. Those documents include emails, records and payments or documentation of work that those organizations performed for the tribe.

The Delahunt Group, which is led by former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, whose district included the Cape and Islands, is a longtime lobbyist for the tribe. The organization, which the tribe hired in 2011, has helped the tribe with its ongoing effort to pass federal legislation that would protect its sovereignty status. It originally helped the tribe pursue gaming and navigate the federal bureaucracies for health care, housing and education for tribe members, Cromwell previously told the Times.

Delahunt did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Finally, the subpoena also requests all agendas and meeting minutes from tribal meetings as well as records relating to any proposed or enacted tribe resolution or policy between January 2014 and April 30, 2020.

Because the tribe is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, there is no deadline to turn over all of the requested documents, the source said.

Elizabeth McCarthy, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, could “neither confirm nor deny investigations,” she said in an email Wednesday.

It remains unclear the specific reasons for the recent subpoena and the connections of the individuals listed.

The tribe has been engaged in a yearslong legal battle for sovereignty. It had planned to build a $1 billion casino called the First Light Resort and Casino in Taunton, but plans came to a halt when neighbors of the project sued, arguing the tribe had no right to build on its reservation because it did not meet a definition of “Indian” in the Indian Reorganization Act.

With the standstill of the casino, which was projected to bring in $50 million in revenue, the tribe has been struggling with its finances.

Since he became chairman in 2009, Cromwell repeatedly has come under fire for his handling of tribe finances. Some members critical of his administration have called for more transparency. He and Harris had faced allegations from some tribe members who accused them of wrongful conduct in connection with $500 million owed to Genting Malaysia.

In June 2019, a robocall circulated within the tribal community alleging that $250 million handled by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority was unaccounted for. In January 2019, the tribal council had taken a vote of no-confidence and voted to strip Cromwell of his financial responsibilities in connection with the tribe and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority, a five-member board Cromwell is president of that oversees the tribe’s gaming operation.

Last fall, some tribe members sought to recall Cromwell and Harris for alleged malfeasance. The tribe’s Election Committee canceled the election three days before it was to take place.