FBI raid was followed by arson fire
Amid distrust among tribal members and the prospect of an FBI investigation, the Shinnecock Indian Nation of Long Island, New York has disbanded its tribal gaming authority, reports the Southampton Press. The nation’s reservation is located in Southampton, perhaps the wealthiest of the storied Hamptons and home of super-rich celebrities like Martha Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld.
Support for disbanding the five-member gaming authority was “broad but not unanimous,” reported the website 27east.com, with members voting 110-41 in favor of the action.
The authority was first established in 2003, with five members who were paid an annual salary of $60,000 each. At one point, the authority hoped to partner with Detroit-based Gateway Casino Resorts to open a casino on Long Island, much to the dismay of the community. Gateway reportedly paid millions to fund the tribe’s legal fees and pay salaries for more than two dozen tribal members.
The trouble began in 2011, when two members of the authority, Phil Brown and Barre Hemp, questioned some of the contracts with Gateway. Soon the men were removed from office, along with then-tribal trustees Lance Gumbs and Gordell Wright, based on allegations that they had been working on land deals without informing the tribe. In 2012, Gateway ended its $250,000 monthly payments to the Shinnecocks.
Then in May 2013, FBI agents descended on the reservation and seized documents and computers from the authority’s offices and from the home of one of its members. Before the end of the year, the offices and many documents not seized in the initial raid were destroyed by a suspicious fire, which was later ruled to be an arson.
“A lot of people are wondering about some of the things the gaming authority was doing and why the FBI seized their papers,” said an anonymous tribal member. “They didn’t trust them anymore, and nobody is sure where the casino is going right now, and it was just better to get rid of the gaming authority.”
