This article was originally published by Louisiana Illuminator, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization.

Natalie McLendon
Louisiana Illuminator

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – An independent accountant’s audit of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana revealed its leadership failed to keep track of its credit card use, with no receipts to show for purchases that totaled more than $100,000 during the two-month period auditors reviewed. 

The audit reviewed the tribe’s financial records from 2024, when the tribe’s former chairman resigned amid reports of an alleged investigation into his use of a separate credit card for Coushatta Casino and Resort, which the tribe owns and operates.

Louisiana state law requires independent financial audits for tribal nations that own casinos. The same requirement applies under federal law for any organization that receives $1 million or more in annual government assistance.    

The audit results were made public last week by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office.  In a new development Friday, the audit was removed from the Legislative Auditor’s website, KPLC-TV reported. An attorney with the agency told the station federal regulations allow tribes to opt out of having their audit reports made public. Officials are discussing whether the state should have posted it on their website, according to the report.

In addition to an overall look at the tribe’s financial standing, the review included credit card charges from two unspecified months last year totaling more than $387,000. 

The review by the SJT Group accounting firm of Albuquerque, New Mexico, found there were no receipts for $105,416 worth of purchases over the two-month period. Tribal policy requires all credit card purchases above $50 to have supporting receipts that must be produced monthly for the spending to be properly categorized. 

Auditors reported 344 purchases without supporting receipts, and that 167 of the sampled transactions had no associated business documentation to account for $100,254 of the total reviewed charges. 

The review also included $73,515 in travel expenses charged to the tribal credit card. According to the audit report, “all travel-related credit card charges should include a travel request

form, stating the business purpose of the transaction.” Tribal policy also requires an expense report for any travel paid for with its credit cards.

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana’s tribal council declined to answer specific questions about the audit. In a statement to the Illuminator through spokeswoman Mary Patricia Wray, the tribal council said it has taken steps to improve its financial accountability, including eliminating council credit cards and adopting a formal expense reporting and reimbursement policy. 

“This Council is proud that we have put in place more accountability measures, but disappointed those efforts were not cited or recognized in the audit report from our partners at the State of Louisiana,” the statement said.

Tribal secretary and treasurer Kristian Poncho will complete a review of credit card policies by the end of September, according to the tribe’s response to the report provided to the legislative auditor. 

The stricter measures come after former tribal chairman Jonathan Cernek resigned in August 2024, according to a KPLC-TV report. Other news outlets have reported Cernek is allegedly under investigation by the FBI, the National Indian Gaming Commission and Louisiana State Police. Cernek is reported to have made at least $350,000 in personal charges on two casino credit cards.

The FBI and the National Indian Gaming Commission would neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation related to Cernek.

The SJT Group report also reviewed unresolved findings from similar credit card documentation issues in the tribe’s previous audit.

When analyzing two months of credit card statements from 2023 totalling $312,027, auditors found 338 transactions worth $111,697 had no receipts. A hundred transactions had no associated business documentation to account for $103,804, and travel forms were not available for 20 trips totalling $55,619.