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The Caldwell First Nation, where a forensic audit uncovered gross financial irregularities around a 2016 powwow, allegedly has been dubiously run for years.

“I am not even remotely shocked about the results of the audit,” says one member of the small Leamington, Ont.-based First Nation. “I think if members knew what went on … they would be sick to their stomachs for weeks.”

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The member asked not to be identified.

The First Nation has only 368 members, and, with no designated reserve yet, almost all of them live elsewhere in Ontario or Canada.

Photo by Postmedia archive

But the member said that many of the same issues identified by the audit — nepotism, the chief and a couple of councillors allegedly acting in concert without the approval of the whole council, sloppy adherence to procedures — have long dogged the band.

The audit — requested by Councillor Jim Peters at a June 3 meeting — found that a total of $280,000, much of that for unusually lucrative cash prizes for contest winners at the powwow, wasn’t backed up by receipts or any other documents.