A Missouri attorney is accused of stealing more than $2.3 million and using it to pay himself and other Quapaw Nation officials — including the former Quapaw Nation chairman who spearheaded the construction of Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff and who is awaiting trial himself on fraud-related charges.
Jack Brill II, 54, was charged in Quapaw Nation Court in Oklahoma on June 1 with one count each of embezzlement, attempted embezzlement and conspiracy to commit embezzlement, as well as two counts of offense by officers. Brill was the attorney for the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw, Okla., for 11 years and also sat on a committee that helped oversee construction of the Saracen Casino Resort, authorities said.
Among those he sent unauthorized checks to — according to an affidavit filed along with the charges — was John Berrey, who for 20 years served as chairman of the Quapaw Tribal Business Committee. Berrey, who was credited with leading the charge to bring a casino to Pine Bluff, was indicted in Quapaw Nation Court in April 2021 on allegations that he embezzled $7 million in tribal funds to cover personal expenses, fund bonuses and pay for gifts to other tribal officials.
“These charges are an extension of the original charges filed in Quapaw Nation Tribal Court in 2021,” the committee stated in a response to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “All of the parties mentioned [in the latest affidavit] are no longer associated with Saracen or the leadership of the Quapaw Nation.”
Source: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jun/16/attorney-charged-in-embezzlement-of-23-million/
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Background
Former elected officials Berrey and Reeves were charged civilly and criminally in Quapaw Nation Tribal Court in 2021 with a laundry list of alleged financial wrongdoing ranging from embezzlement, conspiracy, abuse of office, and official unlawful action.
They are accused of misappropriating more than $7 million of tribal money, according to the complaints.
Berrey and Reeves deny any wrongdoing, and online records show no trial date has been set.
The charges against Brill, McWatters, and Rogers were filed after Innovative Gaming Solutions launched an internal audit and investigation in June 2020, into allegations of improper bonuses being paid to tribal leaders and casino executives. The audit officially began looking at records on July 29, 2020, days after incumbents Berrey and Reeves lost their bids for reelection.
The Downstream Development Authority, also known as the DDA, oversees the Downstream Casino Resort.
Some of the audit’s findings included:
- Proper authorization was never recorded for the $1 million bonus to Jones.
- Proper authorization was never recorded for the $1.5 million bonus to Berrey.
- The DDA authorized no Executive Severance plan resolution.
- No resolution was authorized for the issuance of “success fee” payments or “success fee” bonuses to any member of the DDA, Saracen Development Authority, Downstream Casino Resort, or Saracen Casino Resort.
- No records or resolutions were found in the Business Committee meeting minutes for merit increases, bonuses or benefit increases for the DDA since Dec. 2009.
- The casino accounting department and the tribal accounting department verified that no formal DDA budget could be found as ever being submitted to the Business Committee.
- Tena Smith deliberately did not put DDA member pay in the meeting minutes on purpose and stated to Brill she intentionally kept the minutes vague.
- No records of Business Committee votes could be found approving raises.
Alleged Unauthorized Payments
| Name | Date | Description | Amount |
| George McWatters, Jr. | Jan. 1, 2018 – Aug. 23, 2019 | Overcompensation Downstream Casino Resort |
$250,000 |
| George McWatters, Jr. | Aug. 1, 2018 – Sept. 31 [sic] 2019 | Downstream Casino Resort Severance |
$350,000 |
| Marilyn Rogers | Jan.1 2019 to Aug. 15, 2019 | Overcompensation Downstream Casino Resort |
$250,000 |
| Jack Brill | May 30, 2019 – Nov. 17, 2020 | Overcompensation Downstream Casino Resort |
$100,000 |
| Marilyn Rogers | Aug. 1, 2019- Sept. 31 [sic] 2019 | Downstream Casino Resort Severance |
$290,000 |
| Jack Brill | Nov. 1, 2019 – Dec. 3, 2019 | Saracen Casino Bonus | $256,349 |
| Merlin “Kent” Jones | Dec. 31, 2019 to May 1, 2020 | Saracen Casino Bonus | $1 Million |
| John Berrey** | Dec. 31, 2019 to May 1, 2020 | Saracen Casino Bonus | $1.5 Million |
| Jack Brill | March 6, 2020 – July 2, 2020 | Saracen Casino Resort and Q Store Bonus | $513,000* |
| John Berrey** | 7/27/2020 | Saracen Casino Resort Severance |
$189,525 |
| Jack Brill | 7/27/2020 | Saracen Supplemental Bonus | $128,250 |
| Tamara Reeves** | 7/27/2020 | Saracen Supplemental Bonus | $ 72,631 |
| Tamara Reeves** | 7/27/2020 | Saracen Casino Resort Severance |
$104,596 |
| Merlin Jones | 7/27/2020 | Saracen Casino Resort Severance |
$100,111 |
| Janet Cummings*** | 7/27/2020 | PTO – Cash In – 574.76 Hours | $ 52,572 |
| John Berrey** | 7/27/2020 | PTO – Cash In – 214.65 Hours | $ 33,290 |
| John Berrey** | 7/27/2020 | Downstream Casino Resort Severance |
$312,464 |
| Tamara Reeves** | 7/27/2020 | PTO – Cash In – 306.07 Hours | $ 25,644 |
| Tamara Reeves** | 7/27/2020 | Downstream Casino Resort Severance |
$171,237 |
| Merlin K. Jones, Jr. | 7/27/2020 | PTO – Cash In – 131.73 Hours | $11,521 |
| Merlin K. Jones, Jr. | 7/27/2020 | Downstream Casino Resort Severance |
$168,585 |
| Total | $5.3 Million |
* Quapaw Nation placed a stop payment on two checks totaling $145,878.54 written to Brill.
**Berrey and Reeves charged with criminal charges.
***Cummings, who was named in a civil suit, has settled the civil complaint.
Who Are The Players
- Merlin Kent Jones – Former Downstream Casino and Resort CFO
- Jack Brill – Former Downstream Casino Resort Attorney
- John Berrey- Former Quapaw Nation Chairman
- Tamara Reeves – Former Quapaw Nation Secretary/Treasurer
- Janet Cummings – Former Downstream Casino and Resort General Manager
- George McWatters, Jr. – Former Business Committee and DDA member
- Tina Smith – Former DDA Executive Secretary
- Marilyn Rogers – Former Business Committee and DDA member
