---
category: PROMIS Scandal
summary: Former Cabazon Tribal Council Chairman who wrote to President Reagan requesting
  investigation of non-Indian investors at Cabazon Casino.
tags:
- Person
- PROMIS
- CIA
---

[Joseph R. (Mike) Benitez](/people/joseph-r-mike-benitez/) was the former [Cabazon Indian Reservation](/places/cabazon-indian-reservation/) Chairman. On January 28, 1985, he wrote a two-page letter to President [Ronald Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/), requesting an investigation of the [Cabazon Indian Reservation](/places/cabazon-indian-reservation/) and the Indio Bingo Palace. Benitez stated that "non-Indian investors" had not provided them with financial statements for four years and withheld information from the tribal members. He also noted that tribal members had been assessed taxes by the IRS on income of $270,000 each, but they never received any of this money.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.