Wakpamni Community Lake lawsuit dismissed
A civil lawsuit filed in the wake of a bond scandal that defrauded the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation and retirement investment funds of $43 million has been dismissed. The suit alleged that law firms involved failed to perform their due diligence in the issuance of the fraudulent bonds.
The Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation, the economic development arm of the Wakpamni Lake Community which is located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was the victim of a sophisticated fraud scheme, involving the perpetrators buying legitimate companies to act as fronts for their deception. John and Jason Galanis and the others were caught and prosecuted and are currently in federal prison for securities fraud. (www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/john-galanis-sentenced-10-years-prison-his-participation-scheme-defraud-native-american)
After the criminal proceedings, with the perpetrators already incarcerated, the Chicago Transit Authority Retiree Health Care Trust and the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Transit Authority Retiree Health Care Trust sued other parties including the law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPA in an attempt to recoup losses.
The suit against Greenberg Traurig, who represented Wakpamni Lake, was settled and will be dismissed “with prejudice” on Jan. 8, 2021. The court ordered that all parties pay their own legal expenses.
A spokesperson for Greenberg Traurig told the legal publication Law360 in a statement, “We have always denied the allegations against our firm in this situation, and are pleased to put them behind us and to spare us further cost.” (www.law360.com/articles/1301067/greenberg-reaches-deal-with-ill-fund-in-bond-fraud-suit)
Tribal officials have long maintained that the suit was meritless (www.nativesunnews.today/articles/reservation-community-responds/) and welcomed the dismissal. “As we said in our previous statement, the Chicago lawsuit was full of sensational and false statements,” said Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation President Geneva Lone Hill. “Our attorney Heather Dawn Thompson and our CEO Raycen Raines did great work for us. They uncovered the fraud and turned it over to law enforcement. We are glad to see the case is finally dismissed.”
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December 10, 2020