A Concerning Land Flip Deal — VoteNoDemandBetter.com

All facts on this page are sourced from Robeson County public deed records and Business North Carolina reporting (February 2026). These are public documents that any person can verify. These facts are verifiable from Robeson County public deed records.

What happened

Here is what the Robeson County deed records show. Three numbers. Same land. Same week. No explanation.

Step 1 — Wyoming company paid

$3.2M

Western Agricultural Holdings bought both tracts · Dec 11 & 17, 2025

Step 2 — Our tribe paid

$6.8M

Lumbee Tribal Holdings bought the same land days later · Dec 12 & 17, 2025

Step 3 — Wyoming company profit

$3.6M

Profit to a company no tribal member had ever heard of — same week

In plain English: A Wyoming company nobody had heard of bought land near I-95 for $3.2 million. Days later, our tribe bought that same land for $6.8 million. The Wyoming company walked away with $3.6 million of tribal funds. No tribal member was consulted. No explanation has ever been given.

Three questions that have never been answered

Who owns Western Agricultural Holdings?

This Wyoming company appeared from nowhere, made $3.6 million from tribal funds in days, and disappeared. Wyoming LLC ownership is not public. No tribal leader has identified who owns it. Tribal members have a right to know who profited from their money.

Who authorized this purchase?

No tribal member was consulted. No public council vote has been identified authorizing the purchase of this land at this price. Who made the decision to spend $6.8 million of tribal funds on land that had just sold for $3.2 million — and why was no one told?

Why did the tribe pay $3.6 million more than the land sold for days earlier?

The same land. The same week. A $3.6 million difference. Tribal Chairman John Lowery has said the property is earmarked for economic development. He has not explained why the tribe paid $3.6 million more than the market price — or where that $3.6 million went.

None of these questions have been answered. Tribal Chairman John Lowery has stated the property is earmarked for economic development. He has not explained the $3.6 million price difference or the identity of Western Agricultural Holdings. We are asking these questions before tribal members are asked to vote on a constitutional amendment that would give one man — the same chairman — the power to negotiate all gaming contracts and appoint every gaming oversight board member.

Why this concerning $3.6M profit land flip deal makes independent oversight essential

This land deal is not just a concerning transaction on its own. It is a warning about what happens when one person controls tribal funds without real independent oversight — and why the proposed gaming amendment is so dangerous.

What happened with the land deal

$3.6 million of tribal funds went to a Wyoming company nobody had heard of — with no public council vote, no member notification, and no explanation ever given. No independent oversight existed to catch it, question it or stop it.

What the amendment would make possible

The proposed amendment gives the same chairman the power to negotiate all gaming contracts — worth potentially hundreds of millions — AND nominate every member of both the gaming board and the oversight board. Confirmed by a council that just voted 17-2 in his favor. That is not oversight. That is the same pattern — larger.

The connection is direct: If tribal leadership has not explained a $3.6 million profit to a Wyoming shell company in the land flip deal — before any gaming is authorized — what confidence do tribal members have that gaming revenues worth hundreds of millions will be managed transparently? A fair gaming amendment requires independent oversight precisely because the land deal shows what happens without it.

What real oversight looks like

Independent oversight board

Elected by tribal members — not nominated by the chairman. No financial stake in gaming outcomes.

Public land acquisition approval

Any significant land purchase requires a public council vote and member notification before closing.

Transparent revenue reporting

Gaming revenues publicly reported and independently audited — so every tribal member can see where the money goes.

Conflict of interest protections

No undisclosed financial interests in gaming for the chairman, council members, their families or connected parties.

The bottom line: Voting NO on June 23 does not stop gaming. It stops this amendment — the one that would hand control of a billion-dollar gaming enterprise to the same leadership that has not answered basic questions about a $3.6 million profit land flip deal. The Lumbee people deserve a referendum or a better amendment with real independent oversight. Vote NO. Demand Better!!

What a better amendment looks like →

Published reporting on this transaction

"Lumbee pay $6.8M for possible casino land, 2X previous sales price"

By Ray Gronberg · Business North Carolina · February 16, 2026

Business North Carolina was the first publication to report on this land transaction. Their reporting is based on the same Robeson County public deed records cited on this page. The article is available on their website — some content may require a subscription.

Read the Business NC article ↗

Lumbees United for Accountability is not an anti-gaming coalition. Our members hold a range of views on gaming. What unites us is this:

The Lumbee people deserve a referendum or better amendment on gaming — with real oversight and real transparency and a real balance of power, not the currently proposed concentration of power.

Voting NO does not stop gaming. It forces a referendum or a better amendment — one with independent oversight, transparent revenue reporting, and a balance of power.

If gaming eventually passes, revenues must be directed to tribal services for members — healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure and elder care — not to outsiders, insiders or a Wyoming shell company.

Vote NO. Demand Better!!