Kaweah Indian Nation

[littlefeatherspiri]

Kaweah leader arrested in raid
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
Federal law enforcement officers and Wichita police remove boxes of evidence from Kaweah Indian Nation office on west Central.
  Read the bureau's refusal to recognize the Kaweah tribe
As part of a multistate investigation, federal and local officers raided the Wichita offices of a purported American Indian tribe Thursday and arrested its leader.

Officials expect to charge Malcolm L. Webber today.

The Kaweah Indian Nation, which is not recognized as a tribe by the federal government, has been under investigation in several states over allegations that it illegally sold tribal memberships to immigrants -- for up to $400 -- with the claim that it would enable them to gain citizenship.

Emira Palacios, a coordinator with Sunflower Community Action, said word has spread that some members of Wichita's Hispanic churches bought memberships. She said it concerned her because she had read that the Kaweah Indian Nation was being investigated. The Eagle published three articles about the group in August.

The idea of buying a tribal membership in what is not a recognized tribe "didn't sound valid to me," she said.

Yet, she said, immigrants sometimes become desperate to gain citizenship.

Webber, 69, was being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on Thursday night. Today, authorities expect to charge him in federal court in Wichita, said Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Cross said he couldn't discuss what the charges might be.

Neither Webber, his relatives nor the group's spokesman could be reached for comment. In the past, Kaweah spokesman Manuel Urbina has denied that the tribe was breaking the law.

After Webber's arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement saying the investigation is focused on "whether Webber illegally sold tribal membership to illegal aliens and aliens lawfully admitted to the United States under the misconception that these documents provide immediate U.S. citizenship."

According to Kaweah's not-for-profit corporate annual report filed with the state earlier this year, it had 7,500 members. At other times the group has said it has a national membership of 10,000.

According to a U.S. Department of Interior document from 1984: "The Kaweah Indian Nation Inc. is a recently formed corporation which did not exist prior to 1980. The organization was formed under the leadership of a non-Indian, Malcolm L. Webber...."

Webber also goes by the name Chief Thunderbird IV.

The document adds: "There is no evidence that the group was ever identified as having been an American Indian entity by recognized Indian tribes, governmental agencies, scholars or other sources."

In the raids, starting around 9 a.m. Thursday, about a dozen Wichita police officers assisted about the same number of federal agents in executing search warrants at Kaweah Indian Nation offices at 2243 S. Meridian and 5512 W. Central.

The search warrants were for anything related to sales of tribal memberships, Cross said.

The raids included agents from the departments of State and Interior, ICE, the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

At the West Central offices, investigators loaded boxes of what appeared to be documents into an unmarked van. A car in a parking lot next to the offices bore a sticker reading: "Jesus is Lord. Pastor M.L. Webber."

A sign outside the West Central office says: "Kaweah Indian Nation. Victory in Christ Church. Congregation Bible Churches."

Agents remained at the offices throughout the day.

A sign in the South Meridian office identified it as the group's "processing center."

Before moving into the West Central location, the church was located in a small strip mall at 3031 W. Pawnee.

A woman who works nearby, who asked that her name not be used, said the mall parking lot would regularly fill with vehicles from California, Colorado and Texas.

"Lots of fancy vehicles with out-of-state tags," she said.

Last month, the group's secretary, a woman from El Salvador, and her Guatemalan husband were charged in Wichita with federal immigration violations that prosecutors said were linked to the Kaweah investigation.

Also last month, the Texas attorney general's office sued Webber, the Kaweah Indian Nation Inc. and two group members. The lawsuit alleged they fraudulently sold memberships by claiming that tribal members could obtain a Social Security number, protection from deportation and U.S. citizenship once the group is federally recognized.

The Nebraska Mexican-American Commission recently posted a warning on its Web site, saying church members from several Nebraska cities said the group's representatives approached them.

"I'm just impressed that the arrest took place so quickly," said Angel Freytez, spokesman for the Nebraska Mexican-American Commission.

"Regardless of (immigrants') status in the U.S., we cannot allow other people to profit from the drama and tragedy of others," he said.

Contributing: Hurst Laviana and Dion Lefler of The Eagle; Associated Press
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.

[earthw7]

Texas AG seeks default judgment against unrecognized tribe       

Crime/Justice - Criminal Cases 
By Roxana Hegeman
Wichita, Kansas (AP) 11-07

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is seeking a default judgment against an unrecognized American Indian tribe that allegedly defrauded illegal immigrants by falsely claiming they could get Social Security numbers if they bought tribal memberships.

The Wichita-based Kaweah Indian Nation and its self-proclaimed chief, Malcolm L. Webber, failed to answer a lawsuit filed against them in August by the Texas attorney general's office alleging they violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, said Paco Felici, spokesman for the Texas attorney general's office. In its lawsuit, the Texas attorney general's office contended that the tribe sold memberships for up to $400 per person to immigrants by saying that tribal members could get a Social Security number and protection from deportation. Immigrants were also allegedly told they would be entitled to receive U.S. citizenship once the tribe was federally recognized.

Kurt Kerns, the court-appointed defense attorney representing the tribe and Webber in a separate federal criminal case with similar allegations, was out of his office. He did not return phone messages left at his office and on his cell phone.

A man who answered the phone at Webber's home said Webber no longer lived there and hung up.

Kerns previously has said that Webber was a victim of renegade underlings who sold tribal memberships to immigrants and pocketed the money. Kerns also has said that the government's arrests of the employees was meant to scare and intimidate them and turn everybody against each other.

The two other defendants named in the Texas lawsuit – Ralph Benny Tipton of San Antonio and Victor Ramirez of Edinburg, Texas – have not been criminally charged, but they have denied the allegations in the civil action.

Their defense attorneys did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs ruled in 1984 that the Kaweah group had no historical link to American Indian tribes, and that Webber is not an Indian.

Court documents filed in a federal case against the Kaweah Indian Nation identify Tipton as the tribe's ambassador to Mexico and the tribal chief for an area covering Austin to San Antonio. Tipton was also in charge of a Texas tribal police unit, according to a tribal newsletter filed as evidence in the federal case.

A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Edinburg, Texas, on the attorney general's request for a default judgment against the tribe and Webber.

The Texas lawsuit seeks an injunction to keep the tribe and its agents from selling memberships, restitution for victims, and a fine of up to $20,000 for each violation.

Texas authorities have yet to determine how many immigrants were defrauded or the final amount of the fine and restitution, Felici said.

"These defendants relied on promoting their services through fairly large congregations throughout Texas, so many consumers were exposed to the misinformation that the defendants were spreading,??? he said.

Separately, the U.S. attorney's office in Wichita has filed federal charges against the tribe and 11 employees. That case is scheduled for trial on Aug. 5, 2008.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson told a federal judge last week he anticipated filing a superseding indictment adding more defendants and charges in a complex case that spans at least 10 states, including Nebraska, and involves an estimated 10,000 victims. Anderson said he didn't think the Texas lawsuit would have any impact on the federal case in Kansas.

Felici also said he anticipated the federal case to have no bearing on the Texas civil case.

It is also unlikely the injunction sought by Texas would have any immediate effect. Conditions of Webber's bond include that he stop all solicitations for tribal membership and that he disband all his tribal police units.

[MikePutfus]

The Grand Chief Thunderbird the IV is a wonder. He just went a little to far this time. I remember when he claimed most of the West Coast belonged to him and his Tribe. That wannabe has to be close to 70 by now, and still at it.

[earthw7]

http://www.journals tar.com/articles /2007/11/ 19/news/nebraska /doc474203d993d
53497780552. txt

Judge rules against unrecognized Wichita tribe

By ROXANA HEGEMAN / The Associated Press
Monday, Nov 19, 2007 - 05:30:17 pm CST

WICHITA, Kan. — A Texas judge issued a permanent injunction Monday
prohibiting an unrecognized American Indian tribe and its self-proclaimed
chief from selling tribal memberships in an alleged scam to defraud illegal
immigrants by falsely claiming the documents would provide protection from
deportation.

District Judge Noe Gonzalez ruled that Malcolm Webber and his Wichita-based
Kaweah Indian Nation by default admitted the allegations in a lawsuit filed
by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Gonzalez issued the ruling because
the tribe and Webber failed to answer the lawsuit filed in August alleging
they violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The lawsuit contended that the tribe sold memberships for up to $400 per
person to immigrants by saying that members could get a Social Security
number. The lawsuit also alleged that immigrants were told they would be
entitled to receive U.S. citizenship once the tribe was federally
recognized.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs ruled in 1984 that the Kaweah group had no
historical link to American Indian tribes and that Webber is not an Indian.

The civil action against two other defendants — Ralph Benny Tipton of San
Antonio and Victor Ramirez of Edinburg, Texas — continues, said Paco
Felici, spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's office. A trial date has
not been set.

"We are obviously working as hard as we can to put a permanent end to this
fraud and seek justice for harmed consumers,??? Felici said.

Tipton and Ramirez have not been criminally charged, but they have denied
the allegations in the lawsuit. Their attorneys could not immediately be
reached for comment Monday.

Monday's ruling prohibits Kaweah and Webber from selling memberships or
representing the Kaweah Indian Nation as an acknowledged tribe. It also
enjoins them from representing that being a member of the tribe will
entitle a person to a Social Security number, protection from deportation
and U.S. citizenship.

Gonzalez also ordered them to not conceal or destroy any documents related
to their business and prohibited them from claiming that the Bureau of
Citizen and Immigration Services has approved any services for sale by
them.

Kurt Kerns, the court-appointed defense attorney representing the tribe and
Webber in a separate federal criminal case with similar allegations, did
not immediately return a call for comment. Kerns previously has said that
Webber was a victim of renegade underlings who sold tribal memberships to
immigrants and pocketed the money.

Manuel Urbina, who in the past represented himself as a tribal chief and
spokesman for the Kaweah, said Monday that he was no longer affiliated with
the tribe and did not know anything about the Texas case.

"There is nothing for me to say about it,??? Urbina said.

Felici said any restitution and penalties against the group and Webber
would be determined once the rest of the lawsuit against the remaining
defendants is finished. The lawsuit seeks restitution for victims and a
fine of up to $20,000 for each violation.

Separately, the U.S. attorney's office in Wichita has filed federal charges
against the tribe and 11 employees. That case is scheduled for trial on
Aug. 5, 2008.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson told a federal judge earlier this
month he anticipated filing a superseding indictment adding more defendants
and charges in a complex case that spans at least 10 states, including
Nebraska, and involves an estimated 10,000 victims.

[frederica]

This could take forever, but good for that Judge. Finally.

[educatedindian]

Here's what the database on Fed recog says about the Kaweah:

http://www.indianz.com/adc20/Kin/V001/D008.PDF
"Final Determination that the Kaweah Indian Nation Inc. does not exist as an Indian tribe....the group does not satisfy three of the seven criteria."

http://www.indianz.com/adc20/Kin/V001/D005.PDF
"The Kaweah Indian Nation Inc. is a recently formed group that did not exist prior to 1980. The organization was formed under the leadership of a non-Indian, Malcolm L. Webber, as the result of the breakup of a similar organization, United Lumbee Nation Inc. KIN...has no relation to the aboriginal Kaweah Indians...KIN has no characteristics of an Indian tribe...Present membership of KIN is composed of individuals who claim Indian ancestry but none of whom claim Kaweah or Yokuts ancestry...The organization claims to have 2000 members but many of those appear to benames of individuals taken from other groups Webber previously formed and names taken from subscription lists from newspapers Webber previously published....

There is no evidence the group was ever recognized as an American Indian entity by recognized Indian tribes, government agencies, or scholars...The tribal council of the Tule River Tribes passed a reolution refusing to endorse, recognize, or support the KIN or its actitvities....

Members of the KIN claim Indian ancestry...none submitted documented genealogical evidence of Indian lineage....

An Augusts 22, 1980 letter states...members of the United Lumbee Nation voted to drop the name and change it to Kaweah Indian Nation...the Bureau received a copy...essentially the same document...All references to ULN and Lumbee were replaced with Kaweah...A statement regarding the prohibition of black arts and wtichcraft was also added....

Women were limited to holding office only when needed in office jobs but not the job of chief...the rsult of Webber's lost contest with Eva Reed and Ruby Boyer over control of the ULN....

Most of the group are Cherokee or Choctaw descendants...[Eva Reed] says the group has no illusions about being a tribe like the Hopis or the Navajos....

Webber's earlier organization the ULN...was raising funds to purchase land...A dispute arose...leaders mutually exorcised each other....

A number of members...were of the Native American Wolf Clan...An indeterminate amount of money was given to Webber as expense money....

In the Spring of 1981 an enrolled member of the Colorado Indian River Tribe who associated with the Kaweah...began commuting to Oatman Arizona to sell Indian crafts...Webber began coming with him...He obtained a lease on a local store...established the T and M Trading Post...publishing the Oatman Burro News....

A number of local business people joined the Kaweah...even though most were not known to have Indian ancestry...

Friction between the KIN and Oatman's citizens developed...concern that the KIN was a cult of sorts because of Webber's leadership in the formation of a new church the Congregational Bible Holiness Church....

Webber also claimed the wild burro which roams the Arizona Black Mountains belongs to the KIN....

Webber was telling tourists the KIN owned all the land from Boulder City nevad to a point east of Needles California and from Kingman Arizona west to the Colorado River....

Webber posted a sign in his store that the Kaweahs owned the town and surrounding area and that residents could not buy or sell property without permission...Webber apparently brought in a "tribal policeman" dressed in a loincloth and sidearm, replete with warpaint....

Webber sponsored Kaweah Indian Days...attempting to sell KIN memberships to tourists for ten dollars....celebration consisted primarily of a ten entry parade accompanied by tape recorded Indian music....

Webber...letter to the governor and Bureau..."Our people are mad and we are trying to hold our warriors back...It will make Wounded Knee look like and Sunday School picnic...."

When leaders of the Porterville group...learned of the situation...removed Webber...

Webber had been arrested on a morals charge...served a year in the Mohave County Jail in Kingman."

[frederica]

American Indian Tribe Called Bogus By Paul Foy, Associated Press Writer/May 5, 2008                                                                             

SALTLake City--A federal judge ordered a $63,000 civil-fraud judgement against 4 people who claim to be chiefs of an American Indian tribe in easter Utah.

The men, who got organized at an Arby's restaurant and claim to have hundreds of tribal members, refuse to recognize U.S. or state laws, have issued their own drivers' licenses and filed countless lawsuits against Utah authorities for ignoring their sovereignty.          In a decision Monday, following a trial last week, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot ordered the men to stop pretending to be Indians and pay Uintah County damages. He called their tribe "a complete sham".                                                                                   The group calls itself the Wampanoag Nation, borrowing from the name of two federally recognized Massachusetts tribes.                    Gayle Andrews, a spokeswoman for the Mashpee Wampanoags, said the Utah men are obvious impostors. She said the tribe often deals with phony membership claims. In the most feeble attempts to prove tribal affinity, others have offered pictures of their grandmothers dressed as Indian Princesses, she said.  "A lot of white people are like, I'm Wampanoag", Andrews said. "But you can't just Google yourself into membership. It's not doable.    Members of the Utah group have challenged traffic stops and other encounters with authorities, filing a host of lawsuits and unenforceable debt judgements that soured the credit rating of at least one sheriff's deputy. In one of its most audacious claims, the group recorded a $250 million debt against Uintah County Attorney JoAnn Stringham with a State agency. Uintah County turned one of the bogus lawsuits into counterclaims for racketeering and fraud.  Friot said the four men and their organizations owe money to the county for damages caused by excessive litigation. They started playing this game in 2003, but we've been dealing with these guys for 25 years with their own sovereign city, said Ed Peterson, deputy county attorney.  The group leader is Dale Stevens, 69, who lives without phone service in an unincorporated part of Uintah County. He claims a 13-acre patch to be sovereign.                      We're concerned about the judgment against the people of our tribe, said Martin Campbell, a retired 56 year old mechanic, who claims to be law-enforcement minister for the Wampanoag Nation of Utah. Campbell maintained he had some Indian blood, but said none of the leaders or members ever offered proof of Indian ancestry. The group has been sunsuccessful in getting federal recognition as a tribe, he said.  Besides Stevens and Campbell, James W Burband and Thomas Smith are covered by the judge's order.      Friot is a federal judge in Oklahoma who traveled to Utah to hear the case, because federal judges here have been sued by Stevens.

http://kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8277472&nav=menu495_2                                                                                                                       

[educatedindian]

See also

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1490.0
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=591.0

Article moved to other thread.

[bls926]

Al, you're mixing the "fake tribes". First article is about the Utah Wampanoag Nation. The one you posted this morning is the Kaweah Indian Nation. They're both bogus, so I guess they could be lumped together. LOL

[educatedindian]

The "chief" is now claiming he did it all out of higher motives and is blaming the greed on others.

-------------------
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/163859.html
Defense says tribal chief believed he was helping immigrants
By ROXANA HEGEMAN (Published May 14, 2008)
WICHITA, Kan. — The self-proclaimed chief of an unrecognized American Indian tribe will argue at his trial that he had a "good faith belief" that selling tribal memberships was a legitimate way to help illegal immigrants take a step toward citizenship, court documents show.

Motions filed Wednesday in the case provide a glimpse into the defense strategy of Malcolm Webber, also known as Grand Chief Thunderbird IV. The defense is asking for an order to force prosecutors to turn over allegedly exculpatory evidence. It also wants to sever the chief's trial from the trial of his co-defendants.

Prosecutors contend the Kaweah Indian Nation defrauded legal and illegal immigrants across the nation by claiming tribal membership conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards. The government pointed out that citizenship cannot be obtained in that manner.

On Wednesday, defense attorney Kurt Kerns filed a motion for a court order requiring prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence. Kerns, who represents the chief, argued that prosecutors have told him they have an audiotape of minutes of a meeting in which Webber said that allowing individuals into his tribe is not designed to be a moneymaking scheme, but is instead designed to help people.

Kerns told the court that Webber believed his conduct was lawful and that he thought he was providing a legitimate method by which illegal immigrants could become registered in the United States and enjoy a first step toward citizenship status.

The money that came in from the sale of the memberships - about $300,000 that the government is seeking in forfeiture - was not used to line Webber's own pockets, but was instead placed in a separate account eventually meant to buy land, Kerns told The Associated Press.

"He thought if they would buy land for a reservation there would be greater likelihood of federal recognition," Kerns said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs denied Webber's request for federal recognition of his Kaweah Indian Nation in 1984. The agency said Webber was not an Indian and that his organization had no historic characteristics of an Indian tribe.

The U.S. attorney's office said it would have no comment on the filings.

Federal prosecutors last year charged 11 people, including the chief and the tribal entity, in a 17-count indictment. Charges have since been dismissed against one defendant, and another defendant has pleaded guilty to falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.

The indictment charges Webber, 69, of Bel Aire with four counts of harboring illegal immigrants, one count of possession of false documents with intent to defraud the United States, three counts of conspiracy with intent to defraud the United States, one count of mail fraud and one count of producing false identification documents.

Webber and the remaining nine defendants are scheduled for trial Aug. 5.

The defense contends that Webber advised individuals that membership in the tribe would be a first step to getting American citizenship after the tribe became federally recognized. But he contended others working under him sold memberships at inflated prices, forcing Webber at one point to fire one of them for it.

"The bulk of the 'fraud' was committed by underlings in their efforts to line their own pockets," the defense contends in its motion.

Kerns said in a motion that other defendants are arguing that they were duped by Webber, and that their trial should be separated because of mutually antagonistic and inconsistent defenses.

"The interests of justice would be best served by allowing defendant Webber to have his own trial versus a trial where he will not only have to defend himself against the federal government, but also against every other defense lawyer who is offering Malcolm up as the sacrificial lamb," Kerns said in court documents.

Remaining defendants named in the indictment are Debra J. Flynn of Wichita; Chuck Flynn of Wichita; Jorge B. Villareal, a citizen of Mexico who lived in Bell Flower, Calif.; Eduviges Del Carmen-Zamora of Wichita and a native of El Salvador; Angel O. Zamora, a citizen of Guatemala; Britton A. Bergman of Wichita; Hector Nolasco Pena, a citizen of Honduras who lives in Oklahoma City; and Victor W. Orvellana, a citizen of Mexico who lives in Long Beach, Calif.

Jamie Cervantes, a citizen of Mexico, has pleaded guilty to submitting a Social Security application in which he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen. His sentencing is June 30.

[Kevin]

http://www.indianz.com/News/2008/010330.asp

Leader of fake tribe guilty in immigration scam
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Filed Under: Law

A federal jury found a Kansas man who claims he is the leader of a tribe guilty for scamming immigrants with promises of U.S. citizenship.

Malcolm Webber calls himself the Grand Chief Thunderbird IV of the Kaweah Indian Nation. Prosecutors said he sold $600 "tribal membership" cards to immigrants and told them it would help them cross the border and win U.S. citizenship.

"Thousands of people paid for memberships in a fictitious Indian tribe dreamed up by Mr. Webber,??? said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren in a statement. "He gave them the false hope that joining his so-called Kaweah Indian Nation would make them U.S. citizens. The claim he made during trial that he had acted in good faith was not credible.???

A jury agreed that Webber was guilty of six fraud and immigration charges. He was acquitted on one conspiracy count.