Something appeared amiss when the startling news came in early February that Kevin Brown had stepped down as chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council with no explanation beyond “personal reasons.”

Brown had served as a dynamic tribal government leader at a time of big deals and aggressive expansion, acting in the face of growing competition for its core operation, the Mohegan Sun casino.

During Brown’s time as chairman, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment signed a deal to develop Project Inspire resort, set to open in South Korea in 2022; it reached a deal with Preston to develop the former Norwich Hospital property; and it laid the groundwork for a recently announced deal to manage casinos in the Niagara Falls area.

Along with Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequots, owner of Foxwoods Resort Casino, Brown was the face of a successful effort to gain state legislative approval to open a third casino in East Windsor, to be jointly operated by the two tribes, as a way to compete with the new MGM Springfield casino.

Brown’s sudden departure at such a critical time — the East Windsor project still faces a local regulatory hurdle and significant financing challenges while the Preston project has not moved past the conceptual stage — made no sense without an explanation, and that was lacking.

The recent reporting of veteran Day tribal affairs reporter Brian Hallenbeck provides some context. Attributing his information to multiple unnamed sources, Hallenbeck reported Friday that Brown is departing the council entirely following an independent investigation into violations of the tribe’s ethics code.

An investigation by an independent firm reportedly found a breach of confidentiality rules and potentially other violations.

More transparency would be in the tribe’s interest. Unlike Connecticut, however, the tribe has no freedom of information provision that would allow members of the tribal nation to demand communications and other internal documents that could shed light. Information goes to tribal members on a need to know basis, it appears.

More details could come to light as information is provided, as required, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rather than let information escape in dribs and drabs, it would be the better approach to come clean concerning the circumstances that forced to the sidelines a heretofore respected community leader, a retired Army colonel and someone who appeared to be doing a good job of guiding the tribe.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.