SPOKANE, Wash. – In a statement issued September 11, Spokane Tribe of Indians announced Tahwnee Colvin was convicted on more than two dozen counts of Bank Fraud and Theft from a Tribal Organization, stemming from charges filed in 2024.
Colvin, the former assistant director of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) office working with the Spokane Tribe, had sole access to their Per Capita Payee account between 2019 and 2023. This fund was intended to pay for tuition, medical care, groceries and other expenses of children in the custody of DCFS. This includes foster kids and those without permanent guardians.
Colvin made more than 50 fraudulent money transfers from the account and into her own, totaling over $100,000. She left on a little over $26 remaining in the account, with some of the fraudulent transactions taking place even after she was fired in 2023 (her termination was for reasons unrelated to the embezzlement)…