Report: Profits misspent

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida — the first U.S. tribe to offer high-stakes gambling — have spent millions of dollars from the group’s vast casino income on themselves and their relatives, according to a report.

The spending has triggered audits by federal regulators and complaints among Seminoles that the gambling profits benefit certain members at the expense of the rest of the tribe, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Sunday after a review of thousands of pages of tribal documents including audits, budgets and Tribal Council resolutions.

Phil Hogen, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which regulates tribal spending of gambling profits, told the Sun-Sentinel that the spending practices “cry out for some inquiry, and they will receive that.”