BILLINGS – The former president of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe is admitting to devising a complicated travel fraud scheme to take $20,000 in reimbursement funds from the tribe.
Lawrence Killsback, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and the false claims conspiracy in Montana federal court.
Killsback worked as the tribe’s health director and then tribal president. Prosecutors say he submitted fraudulent invoices to tribal and state entities claiming travel expenses that were exaggerated or false.
He told investigators at one point that travel fraud happens all the time on the reservation, saying there was a culture of travel fraud.
Another scheme involved Killsback falsifying hotel invoices through a software program. Investigators found 28 trips that involved travel fraud.
Killsback faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Story by Andrea Lutz, MTN News
