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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2002

National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall made an urgent request on Tuesday night to protect Indian trust records from potential destruction by convicted accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Due to its federal conviction of obstruction of justice, the company plans to shut down its auditing business and eliminate any records it may possess. In response, Hall asked Secretary of Interior Gale Norton last night to ensure that trust documents won't be destroyed.

The company was hired by the Interior to perform work affecting members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California. The goal was to provide an historical accounting.

The company also was enlisted for two other projects. One involved high-dollar transactions totaling more than $1.5 billion in trust fund and another involved verification of Indian beneficiaries who might be owed money.

Office of Historical Trust Accounting Director Bert T. Edwards warned last month that Andersen's then-pending trial could affect the work. He wrote in a status report that "the completion of the Andersen projects may also be impaired if transferred businesses have conflicts in the Cobell v. Norton litigation or Andersen ceases business."

Norton did not respond to Hall's request, which he asked to be put on the record.

Hall also expressed surprise about the Bush administration's attempt to remove court monitor Joseph S. Kieffer III. He asked Norton to address his concerns but she did not.

Today on Indianz.Com:
Norton confronted with skeptics (6/19)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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