A Miccosukee employee is charged with stealing $11,000 from her job as secretary
A woman who worked for the Miccosukee Indians has been charged with stealing $11,000 from the tribe, according to a new indictment filed in Miami federal court.
Vianka A. Gomez, 42, was employed as a secretary for the Miccosukee Tribal Council and as a manager of the tribe’s village gift shop. These jobs provided her with access to credit cards and purchase accounts to carry out the embezzlement of the tribal funds, the indictment says. The funds were supposed to be spent on supplies, inventory and furnishings for the tribal offices and gift shop.
Gomez is charged with 10 counts of theft from an Indian tribal organization between December 2018 and May 2019, according to the indictment. Each count represents more than $1,000 in embezzled funds, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas A. Watts-FitzGerald. Each count also carries up to five years in prison.
Gomez has not been arrested yet on the theft charges filed last week, so the court record does not list her defense attorney. She could not be reached for comment.
The Miccosukees, based in West Miami-Dade County, make the majority of their money from casino operations.
Last year, a former supervisor at the Miccosukee Tribe’s gaming complex was sentenced to four years in prison for a casino caper that churned out more than $5 million.
