Fred Nishimura has been fired from Aleknagik, Ekwok, and New Stuyahok village corporations following accusations he embezzled tens of thousands of dollars.
DILLINGHAM: Aleknagik Natives Ltd. board president Molly Chythlook confirmed Tuesday that Fred Nishimura had been fired as the business manager for the village corporation.
Leadership for Ekwok Natives Ltd. said Nishiumura’s contract as business manager had been “terminated,” and said an independent investigation was underway. Panarqukuk, Inc., a subsidiary of Stuyahok Ltd. better known as the "P Store", has also cut ties with Nishimura following a civil lawsuit judgment awarding the corporation $56,682.
ANL's Chythlook and Jim Vollintine, an attorney representing all three for-profit corporations, said an internal review of records is underway. Other details of embezzled funds may be made public when that is complete, they said.
Court documents from a lawsuit filed against Nishimura this year show a judgment for Panarqukuk Inc. in the amount of $56,682. That included $52,900 from 39 checks the corporation said Nishimura wrote to himself over the course of ten months in 2014. The lawsuit said Nishimura was an "independent contractor who performed bookkeeping services ... under an oral contract."
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Nishimura denied accusations that he had taken any money beyond what he was owed for services. He said he may seek legal help to clear up the matters he described as misunderstandings.
Nishiumura has been the business manager for ANL since "the early eighties," according to Chythlook.
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