SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Two former employees are accused of stealing millions of dollars from a department of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Patrick Ross and Buffy Redfish are facing a list of charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, according to federal court documents.
Court documents say that from November 2017 to May 2024, Redfish would keep the number of fee checks and then give them to Ross.
He would deposit it into a bank account and then write Redfish a check for her share.
Documents say they deposited 166 checks for nearly $5 million.
Redfish worked for the Tribal Employment Rights Office, known as TERO, inside the OST government. The TERO office receives checks from construction companies that perform work on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Redfish would collect fee checks from contractors but then divert and embezzle checks under a different business checking account.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. District Court in the District of South Dakota.
