As a result of the findings, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and other agency officials could be held in contempt of court. According to Balaran s report, Mona Infield, a computer specialist in the Bureau of Indian Affairs national records center in Albuquerque, N.M., signed affidavits in March 2000 criticizing BIA s management of Indian trust funds. Infield worked in the Office of Information Resource Management, which handles roughly 300,000 trust accounts and is responsible for sending checks to Indian trust beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries rely on trust funds for basic living necessities.
Responding to Balaran s findings, Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said the department plans to prove it did not retaliate against Infield. We regret the findings, and we intend to present evidence at a hearing substantiating the department s opinion that no retaliation was taken against Mona Infield, said Hanna. Infield is currently on administrative leave from BIA, but is still receiving a government salary. According to Balaran s report, Interior officials stripped Infield of her trust record duties, barred her from her office and ordered her to work from home after she cooperated with the plaintiffs attorneys. Allegations of mismanagement of the BIA trust accounting system have plagued the agency for years.