No details on FBI search at Choctaw casinos

No details on FBI search at Choctaw casinos


Philadelphia, Mississippi (AP) July 2011

A week after the FBI served a search warrant on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, no one is talking.

The Choctaws are as tightlipped as the FBI about what occurred at the Golden Moon and Silver Star casinos in Neshoba County.

The casinos did not close, Paul Harvey, the chief executive officer of the resort, said in a statement released by the tribe.

“The resort is monitoring the situation closely and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities in their investigation. There will be no interruption in the operation of business at the resort,” Harvey said.

The action came a week after the election for chief. The results of the election were tossed out by the Tribal Council. A new election date is pending.

Several news organizations were reporting that the FBI was searching the financial records of the casinos.

FBI spokesman Ty Breedlove in Jackson said the FBI had no comment.

Phyliss J. Anderson, who had defeated Chief Beasley Denson in a runoff that has since been nullified, told the Associated Press that she would not comment on the FBI search.

Pearl River Tribal Council member Cyrus Ben has told the Neshoba Democrat that tribal members “are in the dark as much as you are.”

Tribal Council Vice Chief Kevin Edwards said he had no comment. He said the issue should be addressed by Denson and others in the chief’s administration. No one from the tribe’s main office has returned calls to the AP.

The Neshoba Democrat reported the Choctaw Tribal Council was briefed Tuesday on the FBI investigation. Choctaw Attorney General Donald L. Kilgore told the council they needed to discuss “why the FBI is here.” The meeting adjourned a couple of minutes later.