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At the annual General Council meeting in October 2020, Quapaw citizens could be heard gasping in disbelief as figures from a forensic audit were released and presented to the crowd of nearly 100.
The Quapaw Nation celebrated success, and in new business announced the Downstream Development Authority (DDA), was being dissolved. Former Tribal Chairman John Berrey and several others in his administration were being publicly accused of misspending more than $34 million. Berrey alone is alleged to have received $17 million in bonuses.
On Friday, April 16, 2021, Berrey was charged in Quapaw Nation Tribal Court with attempted embezzlement, conspiracy, abuse of office and improper gifts to tribal officials or employees.
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After more than 20 years at the helm of the Quapaw Nation, former Chairman John Berrey was soundly defeated in July by Joseph Tali Byrd.
Now, following an internal audit and growing questions from tribal citizens, the new tribal administration is alleging Berrey and the tribe’s former secretary treasurer illegally doled out more than $34 million worth of pay raises, bonuses, severance pay and donations, including more than $4 million dollars to former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer. The Quapaw Nation confirmed today the tribe is looking closely into potential criminal conduct on the part of several former employees and tribal officials, including former Quapaw Nation Tribal Chairman John Berrey and former Quapaw Nation Secretary/Treasurer Tamara Smiley-Reeves,” Byrd said in a statement.