Post by Okwes on Jun 10, 2008 10:10:01 GMT -5
Seminole leader, friend profited from land deals Leader voted on trade
to himself, then sold property for big profit June 8, 2008
*
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbsemland0608sb\
jun08,0,7600250.story?track=rss
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbsemland0608s\
bjun08,0,7600250.story?track=rss>
Over the past year, a member of the Seminole Tribe
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/social-issues/minority-groups/the-sem\
inole-tribe-ORCUL000056.topic> of Florida's governing board and his
friend each acquired land from the tribe in rural Hendry County and then
sold it for millions more in as little as six days.
In December, Tribal Council member David Cypress acquired 534 acres from
the tribe in a deal that he voted in favor of when it came before the
5-member council. He sold the land in February for a gain of $4.5
million.
"This guy is voting on the sale of land to himself," said Mike Seigel, a
law professor at the University of Florida
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/unive\
rsity-of-florida-OREDU0000153.topic> and former federal prosecutor in
Tampa. "It sounds to me like a classic case of self-dealing in which for
whatever reasons the members of the Tribal Council ... set up these
transactions simply to line the pockets of him and his buddy."
Asked whether the vote represented self-dealing, tribe spokesman Gary
Bitner said, "The Tribal Council does not have a conflict of interest
rule."
Cypress did not respond to a request for an interview.
His friend and business partner in at least three other ventures,
Krishna Lawrence, and a Lawrence company, acquired nearly 1,000 acres
from the tribe and sold the land in a series of transactions beginning
last fall for a gain of $6.9 million.
"What's wrong with that?" said his attorney, Joel Hirschhorn of Coral
Gables
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/miami-dade-county/coral-ga\
bles-PLGEO100100408040000.topic> .
In a written response to questions from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
Bitner said the property, consisting of wetlands and panther habitat,
was of "little or no use to the tribe."
Cypress owned a boxing gym and a Lawrence company owned two commercial
buildings, all on State Road 7 in Hollywood near the Seminoles
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/sports/florida-state-seminoles-ORSPT0\
00176.topic> ' reservation and two of their casinos. Cypress and
Lawrence's company traded their properties in separate transactions with
the tribe for the land in Hendry County.
The tribe benefited because it has been seeking to expand its holdings
in Hollywood "to meet more commercial and residential development
needs," Bitner said.Before any real estate transaction, Bitner said, the
tribe obtains appraisals. The Hollywood properties the tribe received
were appraised at $4.9 million, he said, and considered an even swap for
the Hendry County land.
Within months, Cypress, Lawrence and Lawrence's company had each sold
their land for a total of $15.3 million. The tribe declined to comment.
"In any ordinary system of governance, the essence of a board member's
responsibility is to place the good of the organization ahead of private
gain, but there's vastly more ambiguity with tribal councils," said
Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney for South Florida.
Tribal councils are not above federal law. "There would be a heavy
deference on what the board members themselves construe to be their own
rules," Coffey said.
Politicians in other governments have faced prosecution under a federal
law that says leaders owe a duty of "honest services" to the people
they've been elected to represent. Prosecutors typically pursue
clear-cut cases, such as a vote by a city councilman in violation of
that city's conflict of interest and disclosure requirements, Coffey
said.
The Seminoles' Tribal Council has no such requirements and as a
sovereign nation is free to set its own rules.
In an interview last October, Council member Max Osceola Jr. said the
3,400 tribal members know each other and their leaders. "If we don't
treat them fair, they're going to tell us," he said.
Osceola said he saw no conflict in Cypress voting for his own land deal.
"Let's put it this way: if the council didn't want to do it, three would
have voted no," Osceola said.
The tribe's Constitution contains an oath for Tribal Council members to
"cooperate, promote and protect the best interest of the tribe."
Despite recommendations by lawyers hired by the tribe, the Tribal
Council never adopted conflict of interest rules, and council members
have regularly engaged in business deals that benefited themselves,
their families and friends, the Sun-Sentinel reported last November in
an investigative series on the tribe.
Companies owned by Lawrence, who is not a tribal member, received
millions of dollars in business from the Seminoles and last year
obtained land from the tribe in exchange for an office building in
Hollywood. The company sold the land for a gain of $3.8 million in seven
months, the investigation found.
to himself, then sold property for big profit June 8, 2008
*
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbsemland0608sb\
jun08,0,7600250.story?track=rss
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbsemland0608s\
bjun08,0,7600250.story?track=rss>
Over the past year, a member of the Seminole Tribe
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/social-issues/minority-groups/the-sem\
inole-tribe-ORCUL000056.topic> of Florida's governing board and his
friend each acquired land from the tribe in rural Hendry County and then
sold it for millions more in as little as six days.
In December, Tribal Council member David Cypress acquired 534 acres from
the tribe in a deal that he voted in favor of when it came before the
5-member council. He sold the land in February for a gain of $4.5
million.
"This guy is voting on the sale of land to himself," said Mike Seigel, a
law professor at the University of Florida
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/unive\
rsity-of-florida-OREDU0000153.topic> and former federal prosecutor in
Tampa. "It sounds to me like a classic case of self-dealing in which for
whatever reasons the members of the Tribal Council ... set up these
transactions simply to line the pockets of him and his buddy."
Asked whether the vote represented self-dealing, tribe spokesman Gary
Bitner said, "The Tribal Council does not have a conflict of interest
rule."
Cypress did not respond to a request for an interview.
His friend and business partner in at least three other ventures,
Krishna Lawrence, and a Lawrence company, acquired nearly 1,000 acres
from the tribe and sold the land in a series of transactions beginning
last fall for a gain of $6.9 million.
"What's wrong with that?" said his attorney, Joel Hirschhorn of Coral
Gables
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/miami-dade-county/coral-ga\
bles-PLGEO100100408040000.topic> .
In a written response to questions from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
Bitner said the property, consisting of wetlands and panther habitat,
was of "little or no use to the tribe."
Cypress owned a boxing gym and a Lawrence company owned two commercial
buildings, all on State Road 7 in Hollywood near the Seminoles
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/sports/florida-state-seminoles-ORSPT0\
00176.topic> ' reservation and two of their casinos. Cypress and
Lawrence's company traded their properties in separate transactions with
the tribe for the land in Hendry County.
The tribe benefited because it has been seeking to expand its holdings
in Hollywood "to meet more commercial and residential development
needs," Bitner said.Before any real estate transaction, Bitner said, the
tribe obtains appraisals. The Hollywood properties the tribe received
were appraised at $4.9 million, he said, and considered an even swap for
the Hendry County land.
Within months, Cypress, Lawrence and Lawrence's company had each sold
their land for a total of $15.3 million. The tribe declined to comment.
"In any ordinary system of governance, the essence of a board member's
responsibility is to place the good of the organization ahead of private
gain, but there's vastly more ambiguity with tribal councils," said
Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney for South Florida.
Tribal councils are not above federal law. "There would be a heavy
deference on what the board members themselves construe to be their own
rules," Coffey said.
Politicians in other governments have faced prosecution under a federal
law that says leaders owe a duty of "honest services" to the people
they've been elected to represent. Prosecutors typically pursue
clear-cut cases, such as a vote by a city councilman in violation of
that city's conflict of interest and disclosure requirements, Coffey
said.
The Seminoles' Tribal Council has no such requirements and as a
sovereign nation is free to set its own rules.
In an interview last October, Council member Max Osceola Jr. said the
3,400 tribal members know each other and their leaders. "If we don't
treat them fair, they're going to tell us," he said.
Osceola said he saw no conflict in Cypress voting for his own land deal.
"Let's put it this way: if the council didn't want to do it, three would
have voted no," Osceola said.
The tribe's Constitution contains an oath for Tribal Council members to
"cooperate, promote and protect the best interest of the tribe."
Despite recommendations by lawyers hired by the tribe, the Tribal
Council never adopted conflict of interest rules, and council members
have regularly engaged in business deals that benefited themselves,
their families and friends, the Sun-Sentinel reported last November in
an investigative series on the tribe.
Companies owned by Lawrence, who is not a tribal member, received
millions of dollars in business from the Seminoles and last year
obtained land from the tribe in exchange for an office building in
Hollywood. The company sold the land for a gain of $3.8 million in seven
months, the investigation found.