Delegate claims giving $33,000 to children was not a criminal act

The decision by Mel R. Begay to give more then $33,000 to his children from the tribal financial discretionary fund may have been a violation of tribal ethics laws but was it a crime?

That’s the question posed by Begay’s attorney, Jeffrey Rasmussen, during the first day of Begay’s criminal trial Wednesday in the Window Rock District Court.

Begay is still on the council, representing Coyote Canyon, Mexican Springs, Naschitti, Tohatchi and Bahastl’a’a’. He is accused of conspiring with his children between 2006 and 2010 to defraud the tribe as well as submitting a false tribal voucher.

http://navajotimes.com/rezpolitics/delegate-claims-giving-33000-children-not-criminal-act/