Three Accused Of Stealing Healing Foundation Money

Three Accused Of Stealing Healing Foundation Money

Monday, September 13, 2010 at 14:45

After a two-and-a-half-year investigation, three people from the Yellow Quill First Nation have each been charged with theft over $5,000.

The RCMP began investigating allegations of financial irregularities regarding Aboriginal Healing Foundation funding on the reserve in April of 2008.

However, Staff Sgt. Richard Re says the Mounties were first alerted in 2005, but didn’t have enough concrete evidence to move forward until three years later.

Fifty-eight-year-old Charles Bighand, 60-year-old Doreen Ahpay and 39-year-old Valene Smokyday have all been charged.

All three held positions within the band’s health portfolio, and two of them were band councillors.

They are expected to make their first court appearances this Wednesday in Rose Valley.