OIG-CA-26-008: Final Determination on Corrective Actions — Native Village of Point Hope (December 11, 2025)

Summary

Letter of December 11, 2025 (OIG-CA-26-008) from the Treasury Office of Inspector General to Lauren Kowunna, Chief Financial Officer of the Native Village of Point Hope, giving its final determination on corrective actions after the desk review of the tribe’s use of Coronavirus Relief Fund proceeds (OIG-CA-23-038). In that review an independent public accounting firm questioned the entire $2,348,064 of CRF award funds Point Hope received, because a lack of documentation kept it from evaluating transactions in the tribe’s quarterly Financial Progress Reports. After OIG requests in February 2024 and April 2025, Point Hope provided adequate supporting documentation for the $2,348,064, most recently in May 2025, which the OIG found addressed the questioned costs. Pauletta Battle, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audit, signs the letter.

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Full text

                                          DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
                                                W ASHINGTON, D.C. 20220




     OFFICE OF
INSPECTOR GENERAL
                                                 December 11, 2025

           OIG-CA-26-008

           Ms. Lauren Kowunna
           Chief Financial Officer
           Native Village of Point Hope
           916 Ippiq St.
           Point Hope, AK 99766

           Re: Final Determination on Corrective Actions for Desk Review of the Native Village
           of Point Hope’s Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Proceeds (OIG-CA-23-038)

           Dear Ms. Kowunna:

           The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), 1 established
           the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) and appropriated $150 billion for making
           payments to states, District of Columbia, local, territorial, and tribal government
           entities. CRF recipients may use the CRF award funds to cover costs that:

                1. were necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency
                   with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19);
                2. were not accounted for in the government’s budget most recently approved
                   as of March 27, 2020; and
                3. were incurred during the period that began on March 1, 2020, and ended on
                   December 31, 2021, for states, local governments, and territories. In the
                   case of tribal governments, were incurred during the period that began on
                   March 1, 2020, and ended on December 31, 2022 (covered period).

           Under a contract monitored by our office, a certified independent public accounting
           firm (IPA) performed a desk review to evaluate Native Village of Point Hope’s (Point
           Hope) documentation supporting its use of CRF proceeds as reported in the
           GrantSolutions 2 portal. In the desk review memorandum, 3 the IPA questioned the
           entire $2,348,064 of CRF award funds that Point Hope received. Due to the lack
           of documentation, the IPA was unable to evaluate transactions reported in Point
           Hope’s quarterly Financial Progress Reports submitted in GrantSolutions.

           In February 2024 and April 2025, we contacted Point Hope requesting the tribe to
           provide supporting documentation for the questioned costs. In June and August
           1
               P.L. 116-136 (March 27, 2020)
           2
               GrantSolutions, a grant and program management Federal shared service provider under the
               United States Department of Health and Human Services, developed a customized and user-
               friendly reporting solution to capture the use of CRF payments from prime recipients.
           3
               Treasury OIG, Desk Review of Native Village of Point Hope’s Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund
               Proceeds, OIG-CA-23-038 (July 28, 2023)
Page 2

2024, and May 2025, Point Hope provided adequate supporting documentation for
the $2,348,064 questioned costs. As such, Point Hope’s corrective actions
addressed the questioned costs identified in the desk review.

We appreciate the courtesies and cooperation provided to our staff during the desk
review follow-up. If you have any questions or require further information, please
contact me at (202) 927-5792, or a member of your staff may contact Olivia
Scott, Acting Audit Director, at (202) 927-9635.

Sincerely,


/s/

Pauletta Battle
Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audit

cc:   Michelle A. Dickerman, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Department of
         the Treasury
      Danielle Christensen, Deputy Chief Program Officer for State and Local
         Programs, Office of Capital Access, Department of the Treasury
      Jeffery W. Stout, Acting Chief Program Officer, Office of Capital Access,
         Department of the Treasury
      Thao P. Tran, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Department of the Treasury


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