JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A former Sealaska Corp. president and CEO was indicted on theft charges and accused of stealing thousands of dollars from two nonprofits.
Longtime Native leader Robert Loescher was indicted Friday on two counts of second-degree theft, the Juneau Empire (https://is.gd/P8gmaD) reported.
The indictment came more than seven months after the case against Loescher was initiated by the district attorney’s office.
Loescher, 66, is accused of stealing $21,500 from two Alaska Native-run programs he was directing at the time. The charges cover a period between April 2012 and October 2012.
It’s unclear if Loescher has an attorney in the case. There is no current phone listing for him in Juneau and he could not be reached for comment Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The nonprofits in the case are the Alaska Subsistence Defense Fund and the Alaska Traditional Foods Security Council. The organizations were created in 2009 by a Juneau civil rights group, the Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand Camp.
Camp president Bill Martin declined to comment Monday to the newspaper.
“I can’t really comment on it for fear that it may jeopardize the case,” he said.
An affidavit in the case says the thefts were discovered last year when a new Grand Camp treasurer noticed money was missing. The discrepancy was reported in September to police.
Loescher was appointed president of Sealaska in 1997, resigning from the Juneau-based regional Native corporation without explanation in January 2001.
Loescher is a former member of the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly.
In 2012, Loescher was named Citizen of the Year by the Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, https://www.juneauempire.com
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