FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Members of Florida's Seminole Tribal Council have maintained power, in part, by boosting spending on tribal members prior to elections, it was reported Monday.
The spending, accounting for more than $280 million in seven years, has paid for members' bills, financed their vacations, and bought them cars, motorcycles, furniture, televisions and computers, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
The spending has risen significantly before elections, the newspaper said.
"We are elected by the tribal people to provide for our tribal members," council member Max Osceola Jr. told the newspaper. "Does that mean that (before) the election, we don't help anybody? Of course not."
The Seminoles' economy is based on tobacco, tourism and gambling.
A check registry from the tribe's government fund for an eight-month period in the 2007 fiscal year shows $2.7 million spent on furniture, cars and other items, with a spike in payments before the May 14 tribal election, the newspaper said.
"It would strike me that it might be more than coincidental," said Chairman Phil Hogen of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which regulates tribal spending of gambling profits.
"It's curious that just before the election, a quite disproportionate amount of those dollars are expended."
