Charges against former controller revealed
WINDOW ROCK
The Navajo Nation’s Department of Justice has unsealed two charges against the tribe’s former controller.
According to the DOJ, Pearline Kirk, who held the position for about four years, was charged with falsification of documents and abuse of office in violation of Title 17 of the Navajo Nation Code.
The charges were filed last spring but Attorney General Doreen McPaul requested them to be sealed.
Court documents allege that Kirk falsified and misrepresented facts about a COVID-19 testing company to gain approval to hire them and knowingly used her position to enter into a contract “she knew was unlawful,” which jeopardized the health, safety, and welfare of the Navajo people.
Kirk was responsible for the administration of funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which Congress approved in March, 2020. Approximately $715 million was given to the Nation.
Court documents allege that, in November 2020, after receiving the Navajo Nation’s first round of CARES Act funds, Kirk allocated a portion to hire an outside COVID-19 testing contractor, Agile Technologies Group.
The company was hired to conduct COVID-19 testing and other services for the controller’s office and its staff. The company was paid about $3 million.
The charges state, “She knew it was unlawful, and knew, or should have known, that Agile was not lawfully permitted to conduct COVID-19 testing on the Navajo Nation under federal, tribal, and state law.”
The unsealed court documents allege the company did not exist prior to March 2020, nor did it seem the company, including the individuals who led the company, had any experience in the health care or laboratory testing fields.
“Kirk knew that Agile endorsed rapid antibody testing, which has no public health purpose, and rapid antigen testing that was less reliable than the testing conducted by the HCOC (Navajo Nation Health Command Operations Center),” the court documents allege.
The company’s CEO used the tribe’s payments to fund an extravagant and luxurious lifestyle, the documents say.
Kirk began intentionally avoiding Navajo Department of Health staff, the court documents allege, when they raised concerns about Agile and its testing methods. It was also discovered Kirk did not seek approval from NDOH and NNHCOC.
The Nation is also seeking restitution in the amount of $3.1 million.
The Navajo Nation Council voted to remove Kirk as controller in May.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow