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PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Chairman Michael Jandreau is sedated in a Sioux Falls hospital as his doctors consult with their counterparts at the Mayo Clinic about his tenuous health.
Tribe attorney Marshall Matz said Jandreau's family met with physicians Tuesday to discuss medical test results. Matz said Jandreau suffered from a heart problem spurred by pneumonia and was flown to the hospital on Friday. Jandreau, 71, has been chairman of the tribe for at least 30 years and is known for helping to build a robust farm economy on the Lower Brule Reservation.
Secretary of Tribal Relations Steve Emery said the state had discussed working with Jandreau on agriculture and tourism initiatives before his health problems.
"His tenure has certainly lasted a lot longer than most chairmen's do," Emery said. "He's been a fixture."
But Jandreau has been in the spotlight recently after a report by a human rights advocacy organization alleged millions of taxpayer dollars meant to benefit the reservation disappeared over several years.
Matz and Jandreau have vigorously denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Human Rights Watch investigation released in January, and Matz has urged the organization to retract its findings and issue an apology to the tribe. The report accuses Jandreau and others of diverting money and concealing financial activity.
Human Rights Watch said the "most blatant example" of wrongdoing stems from the tribe's purchase of a New York-based brokerage firm, Westrock Advisors.
The report accuses tribal leaders and their business partners of setting up several shell companies and then securing a $22.5 million federal loan guarantee from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Rather than putting the money toward its stated purpose of economic development, the money was used to buy Westrock, which went bankrupt two years later, the report said. The guarantee was ultimately sold for about $20 million to another company, though the tribe hasn't disclosed the status of the loan, the report found.
Matz pushed back against any implication of misused funds.
"We deny any wrongdoing; we don't deny a bad business transaction," Matz said.
The Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General is evaluating whether to investigate the tribe. Stephen Hardgrove, chief of staff of the Office of Inspector General, said it had received the Human Rights Watch report and had several options moving forward.
"Right now we are looking into whether we will open an investigation or not," he said. "We're really just trying to take a careful look as far as what's the best course of action to take on this report."
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