A new 362-page civil lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court last Monday alleges that a factory on the Navajo Nation was “squandering millions on improper and mysterious expenditures” before suddenly shutting down at the former Navajo Generating Station coal power plant back in July.
The Albuquerque-based firm Indigenous Design Studio and Architecture — or IDS+A — claims that Mesa-headquartered subcontractor ZenniHome breached its five-year, $50 million deal to manufacture 160 modular homes.
The Navajo Nation eventually modified its original contract with the company to construct only 80 homes. In all, 18 structures were built. Still, none of those buildings were ever delivered to Navajo families, which plaintiffs say are “partially constructed and abandoned at its manufacturing facility.”
“There’s a whole lot of money that got dumped into Zenni,” said Jay Curtis, shareholder with Phoenix law firm Burch & Cracchiolo, “and obviously only to produce 18 homes, it’s a mystery.”…