CONCHO, Okla. (AP) — The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is suing Leslie Wandrie-Harjo, its former lieutenant governor, to recover money the tribe claims she embezzled.

The Oklahoman reports that the tribe is seeking to claim $760,000, which is mostly tribal oil and gas royalties. The money was meant to be divided among about 12,000 enrolled tribal members.

Wandrie-Harjo says the money has been untouched since she deposited a cashier's check from the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a Citizens Bank in Ada. She says that she is holding the money to protect it because she does not believe that current tribal leadership, including Gov. Eddie Hamilton, is the legal government of the tribe.

The lawsuit claims that the former lieutenant governor used "stealth and misrepresentation" to persuade the bureau that she had the right to take the funds on behalf of the tribe. The lawsuit also claims that she has attempted to use the funds.

"I didn't steal anything. It's still in a cashier's check in Ada," Wandrie-Harjo said. "That money belongs to the people."

The tribe's leadership has been questioned for several years after Wandrie-Harjo and former Cheyenne and Arapaho Gov. Janice Boswell had a dispute, and a faction of the tribe backed the former lieutenant governor as the rightful leader.

According to William Norman, an attorney for the Cheyenne and Arapaho, Gov. Eddie Hamilton has since been recognized by the tribal supreme court as the rightful leader. 

Earlier this month, First Bank and Trust of Clinton unfroze $6.5 million in separate tribal funds that had been inaccessible to the tribe since 2012 due to the ongoing dispute over the tribe's rightful government.

"I think the bank recognized in that instance that there was a stable government in place and was comfortable having the funds returned to the tribe," Norman said.

 According to tribe attorney Kirke Kickingbird, action is pending against the United States in U.S. Federal Claims Court to recover the $760,000, but the tribe decided it would be quicker to try and claim the money by suing Wandrie-Harjo.

"The money that Wandrie-Harjo feels she is protecting is money tribal members could be using for their family needs," Kickingbird said