ROOSEVELT — The chief executive officer of Ute Tribal Enterprises has been suspended from his post, and federal authorities have been asked to investigate allegations that he misused tribal funds.
Roderick "Rod" K. Ariwite Sr. has been issued a letter of suspension by the Ute Tribe Business Committee, according to Thomas Fredericks, an attorney for the tribe.
Fredericks declined to discuss what led to the suspension.
"We have an ongoing investigation, and I think we ought to respect Rod's rights, as well as those of the tribe, until we can get a full-blown report," Fredericks said. "There's some allegations … we've got to investigate."
FBI spokeswoman Debbie Dujanovic confirmed that the Business Committee — the Ute Tribe's executive and legislative body — had approached the bureau with allegations against Ariwite. She did not detail what those allegations were.
"We are assessing the facts for investigative merit," Dujanovic said. "However, we do not discuss how assessments, complaints or cases are handled or assigned."
Sources with knowledge of the situation have told the Deseret News that the FBI has been asked to probe claims of possible financial misconduct by Ariwite. The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the case.
Multiple attempts by the Deseret News to reach Ariwite after word of his suspension surfaced Friday were unsuccessful.
The tribe hired Ariwite as CEO of Ute Tribal Enterprises in 2009. The operation oversees businesses including the Ute Petroleum convenience stores in Myton and Fort Duchesne and the Ute Plaza grocery store, also in Fort Duchesne.
"(The businesses) are there to employ the people," Fredericks said. "They create jobs and provide services to the public, and in the process hopefully make money."
In a March 16 article about his work with the Utes, Ariwite told the Uintah Basin Standard that the tribe "has all the potential in the world."
"In the next four or five years, I think they are going to set a standard for all of Indian Country," he said at the time.
Ariwite's résumé boasts more than two decades of management experience within or on behalf of several Indian tribes and 10 years in the private sector. But his passion, he told the Standard in April, has remained constant for the past 40 years: He wants reservations to be economically viable and environmentally sound.
"We've raped our homelands to maintain our economics," Ariwite told U.S. News & World Report nearly 20 years ago while serving as an administrator for the National Tribal Environmental Council in Albuquerque, N.M.
In April, Ariwite told the Standard that the Ute Tribe planned to implement a new system that would reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas exploration on the reservation. The system, developed by Salt Lake-based Purestream Technology, claims to destroy 99 percent of emitted volatile organic compounds, dispose of produced wastewater and provide a clean, combined heat and power product for future use.
"Indians have always wanted to be good stewards of the land," Ariwite said while discussing the project. "We need to be economically self-sufficient. But we also, as an Indian people, want to leave the place better for our children and grandchildren.
"I see the Ute Tribe leading out. The Utes are doing this right," he said. "This is one of many steps we can make to improve the quality of life for the Indian people and their neighbors. … I like to leave tribes in better shape."
e-mail: geoff@ubstandard.com
Twitter: GeoffLiesik