Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Navajo Nation

The Deseret News reports that:

A federal judge ruled Thursday that the state of Utah must not only account for how funds in the Navajo oil trust was spent but for what purpose. If it can’t, the state could be on the hook for portions of the $150 million trust.

Of course state officials say this would be too burdensome since the docs date back to 1955.

This is one of many suits filed by Navajos since the 1970s regarding this trust.

The Navajos claims in the past the state has given out money to organizations that have embezzled it. In one case, the Utah Navajo Trust Fund gave about $35 million to the nonprofit Utah Navajo Development Council (UNDC), which in turn created a for-profit group called Utah Navajo Industries (UNI). That organization was supposed to invest seed money to startup businesses on reservations.

Some UNDC and UNI officials were convicted of embezzling trust money, and the plaintiffs claim the state is responsible for any missing money

Bastards. Millions of dollars that could have been used to supply electricity and water.

Of course it will be appealed and more decades will go by…