TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kickapoo Tribe is accusing its former chairman of financial malfeasance in a tribal court lawsuit.

The suit’s Aug. 12 filing came nearly seven months after the tribal council voted to remove Clifford “Steve” Cadue from his job as chairman. The suit accuses Cadue of falsifying meeting minutes to fraudulently pass an unbalanced budget.

Cadue says the lawsuit is without merit and should have been handled through the tribal council, not in a courtroom.

The 30-square-mile Kickapoo Tribe reservation is located just a few miles west of Horton in Brown County. Kickapoo vice chairman Fred Thomas says the lawsuit against Cadue marks the first time in tribal history that a tribal official was sued as a person, not a tribal official, for malfeasance.