5 members of Ute tribe sue Indian affairs bureau

FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Five members of the Ute Indian Tribe — two of them members until this week of the tribe's governing body — have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs for failing to keep the tribe's financial resources from being "raided in broad daylight."

The suit, filed Sept. 19 in U.S. District Court, accuses the BIA of failing to perform its supervisory duties over John Jurrius, the tribe's financial adviser, in his dealings with millions of tribal dollars.

The suit also seeks an accounting of money Jurrius has invested for the tribe, and asks for an accounting of all transactions in which Jurrius or one of his affiliated entities has been involved.

The Jurrius Group exclusively handles the tribe's financial dealings and is paid $50,000 a month by the tribe for those services, according to Luke Duncan, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and who was ousted this week from the Ute Tribe Business Committee as a result. Jurrius takes a percentage of the tribe's oil and gas revenue under his arrangement with the tribe, and has appointed his brother as CEO of the tribe's business enterprises.

Duncan said Jurrius is now seeking total control over the tribe's $173 million in water settlement funds. The money has special oversight by the federal government and is currently in an account set up by Congress specifically earmarked for economic development projects that will benefit tribal members.

Duncan claimed the tribe has suffered financially since Jurrius took over two years ago. The plaintiffs allege in their suit that Jurrius' actions have contributed to "a badly deteriorated cash flow," which declined as much as 30 percent last year and an additional 40 percent this year. The reduced revenue has forced layoffs of tribal employees and cutbacks in the tribe's social programs, Duncan said.

Accountability questioned

The lawsuit contends that Uintah-Ouray Reservation BIA Superintendent Chet Mills and BIA Regional Director Wayne Nordwall have failed to protect the economic interests of the tribe by allowing Jurrius to take advantage of the tribe's finances and implement complex financial designs with no accountability.

It questions Mills' objectivity toward Jurrius due to his personal relationship and reported engagement to Susan Hammer, Jurrius' "principal financial partner."

In a study conducted in November 2000, the tribe's longtime law firm of Whiteing and Thompsen strongly discouraged the tribe from hiring Jurrius following their assessment of his financial proposal. The study cited a substantial lack of sufficient details in Jurrius' plans and a lack of background information on Jurrius himself.