A trial against the remaining individual facing charges in the Treaty Land Entitlement fraud case on Mosquito First Nation is now under way in Saskatoon.
Gerald Arthur Bird faces charges of forgery, fraud, theft and criminal breach of trust.
The charges go back to the early 2000s and stem from alleged activities with respect to the Mosquito band's Treaty Land Entitlement fund. His trial began Monday, June 10 at Queen's Bench court in Saskatoon.
The case is expected to be lengthy with a witness list for the prosecution of over 35 people. It was anticipated RCMP members would be on the witness stand for much of this first week of the trial.
Former TLE trustee Robert Armstrong, who has co-operated with RCMP to expose fraud on Mosquito reserve, is also expected to testify for the Crown, and a number of other witnesses are expected to be called throughout next week as well.
Bird was one of five people charged in the case, which has been ongoing in the courts in Saskatoon, North Battleford and Battleford for the past couple of years.
In those previous court appearances the Crown alleged the five accused individuals had misappropriated Treaty Land Entitlement money that was specifically set aside for the purchase of land, or "shortfall acres" on the reserve.
TLE trustees Alphonse Moosomin and Eldon Starchief were sentenced to a year in jail for criminal breach of trust in 2010.
In 2012, former chief Clarence Stone was sentenced to serve a one-year conditional sentence in the community after he pled guilty to fraud over $5,000.
Stone, who served as Mosquito chief until 2011, re-emerged as a source of controversy on the Mosquito reserve earlier this year when he ran again for chief. However, he lost that election to Daniel Starchief.
A fifth individual, Clifford Spyglass, was also charged but died in 2012 before his case could be dealt with.
