Crime & Courts

Savoonga tribal workers sentenced for embezzling $84,000

A federal judge this week sentenced one tribal worker to prison and another to home confinement for embezzling over $84,000 from a tribal organization in a Bering Sea village.

Sylvia Toolie, 60, was the tribal coordinator for the Native Village of Savoonga when she pocketed $69,563 from the tribe in 2011 and 2012, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge Tim Burgess sentenced Toolie on Wednesday to eight months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Peggy Akeya, 57, was the tribe's secretary and "unofficial bookkeeper" when she stole $14,656, also in 2011 and 2012, the statement said. Akeya was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation, three months of home confinement and 120 hours of community service.

The two women are sisters. They must repay the stolen amounts to the tribe. Burgess also ordered Akeya to record statements for public service announcements about the consequences of embezzling public money.

The theft happened between April 2011 and May 2012. In November 2011, the tribe ran out of money, though it had received "considerable" federal funding that year, the statement said.

A creditor who was owed money by the tribe "made inquiries," leading to the investigation.

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The embezzled funds were in part supposed to pay for building and home repairs after a December 2010 winter storm that was declared a disaster by the state.

Savoonga, home to about 700 residents, is on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.

Toolie was assigned to the tribe through Kawerak, a nonprofit providing services to tribes in the Bering Strait region.

"Absent Kawerak's prior approval, Toolie was not permitted to be paid by the tribe at all," the statement said. "Toolie nevertheless used her position of trust to obtain numerous unauthorized checks from the tribe."

Akeya used her position "to sign numerous unauthorized checks to herself and others," the statement says. The money came from the tribe's bank accounts.

Prosecutors had charged last year that the improper spending was related to $1.4 million in road work received from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Also misspent was $248,550 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, meant for storm damage, prosecutors alleged.

Because large sums of money have gone missing, the BIA has withheld funding from the tribal government since fiscal year 2012, the statement said.

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longtime Alaska journalist who covers business, the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907-257-4317 or alex@adn.com.

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