Hearings underway as Osage Congress investigates former casino CEO’s lavish expenses

PAWHUSKA, Okla. — Osage Nation congressmembers continue to hold hearings looking into whether the former Osage Casinos CEO misspent hundreds of thousands of tribal dollars on lavish personal expenses.

A more than 1500 page report obtained by FOX23 lists thousands of transactions made by former Osage Casinos CEO Byron Bighorse. The expenses were all approved by the tribe’s Gaming Enterprise Board.

“We’ve got the spa receipts with banana bags and booze. It’s all here,” said Osage Nation Congressman Joe Tillman during his opening statements during day one of hearings Tuesday. “They bought golf clubs for their spouses … they bought ‘Hotty Hot Shorts’ at Lululemon.”

For page after page, you can see thousands of dollars spent weekly at upscale restaurants, on private jets, high-end hotels, luxury event suites, Las Vegas trips and much, much more.

“$1,800 bottles of scotch, beluga caviar,” Tillman said. “They bought new clothes almost every time they went to the country club.”

Records show Bighorse spent thousands of tribal dollars every couple weeks at downtown Tulsa’s exclusive ‘Summit Club’—a private dining club atop a skyscraper. It shows he spent nearly $9,000 in one visit, and often spent extra for a penthouse dining room.

Records show he even expensed a parking ticket with tribal funds and also spent nearly $2,500 on “antique brass coins.”

“The Osage people were robbed,” Tillman said.

Bighorse resigned from his position in December.

Several members of the tribe’s gaming enterprise board — who are the ones who ultimately approve those expense reimbursements — also resigned shortly after.

Wednesday began the second day of hearings as Osage Congressmembers questioned witnesses who worked alongside Bighorse.

“I was frankly shocked,” Osage Congressmember Billy Keene told FOX23. “When you’re going out on a random Tuesday night paying for four or five hundred dollars worth of alcohol and don’t list who you’re with, I think that’s troubling.”

Keene is particularly troubled he says, because those expenses came from funds meant to support tribal programs.

“We provide services for our elders, health benefits, school assistance,” Keene said. “Pretty much all of that comes from our casino money. So this is why we’re really looking into this.”

“I’d like to see strong controls put in place, and I’d like to see more accountability to the Osage People,” Osage Congressman Eli Potts told FOX23. “We deserve answers—not just about why beluga caviar and fine wines were expensed, but who approved it, who thought those funds were better used on exclusive dinners instead of on meals for our elders.”

FOX23 reached out to Bighorse to get his side of the story.

“Thank you for reaching out. This is completely false,” Bighorse said. He told FOX23 to expect his lawyer to reach out and provide additional information on his side of the issue.

“I’m not the final arbiter of true or false, but I can read what is in black and white,” Potts said. “Congress has 1,556 pages, many of which detail spending that as a Congressman, I believe are completely unacceptable for anyone entrusted with the funds that belong to the Osage People.”

As of Wednesday no criminal or other formal accusations of wrongdoing have been made against anyone.

Congressmembers say the hearings happening now are simply to establish the facts of what happened and how it happened.

“We’re just trying to get to the bottom of what happened to gain further information,” Keene said.

“My hope is that Congress is able to understand the approval process for these expenditures,” Potts said. “What role did the Enterprise Board have? What role did individual members of the Enterprise board have? Why did Congress receive pushback when we initially requested the documents? We’ve now seen the resignation of a long time gaming board member, his attempted recension of that resignation, the resignation of our CEO, the resignation of the Enterprise Board’s attorney, all over nothing? That doesn’t hold up.”

After they wrap up, the congress will decide how to best move forward.

“We have a multitude of options,” Keene said. “We could possibly remove gaming board members. “We can ask the Attorney General if there’s been a criminal probe opened.”

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