The office of Oklahoma’s new attorney general confirmed Monday that it will take over two separate criminal investigations into alleged misuse of public funds at state companies, together with the tourism division’s contract with a barbecue restaurant.
A criminal probe into the barbecue deal involving the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department and a separate corruption investigation at the Commissioners of the Land Office will be transferred from the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office to the office of Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Former Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to look into each issues final 12 months. An OSBI spokesperson confirmed Monday that each investigations are ongoing. The switch of the investigations was first reported by the on-line news group The Frontier.
“This case includes allegations of fraud involving millions of dollars in taxpayer funds,” Drummond stated about the investigation right into a multimillion-dollar contract between the Tourism Department and Swadley’s Bar-B-Q to renovate and rebrand eating places at state parks. “The Office of Attorney General is the appropriate entity to determine if the findings merit prosecution and, if they do, to prosecute any wrongdoers. One of my top priorities in this office is to end the culture of corruption and scandal.”
OKLAHOMA COURT SAYS KICKAPOO RESERVATION WAS DISESTABLISHED
A state watchdog company instructed state lawmakers final 12 months that below the contract, the state agreed to subsidize the restaurant’s financial losses, which in the end price the state $2.1 million, and pay the restaurant administration charges of $1.34 million. In addition, the restaurant firm served as the common contractor overseeing the development and charged the state administration and consulting charges on nearly each bill that ranged from 5% to as a lot as 35%.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond arrives for inauguration ceremonies in Oklahoma City on Jan. 9, 2022. Drummond’s office confirmed on Jan. 23, 2023, that his office will take over investigations into allegations of corruption in two separate instances.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)
Officials with Swadley’s Bar-B-Q have denied wrongdoing.
OKLAHOMA DEATH ROW INMATE’S LAST WORDS BEFORE EXECUTION: ‘MY CONSCIENCE IS CLEAR’
In the investigation into the Commissioners of the Land Office, the Tulsa World newspaper reported that the CLO’S secretary, Elliot Chambers, fired the company’s inner auditor after she questioned him about his private funding relationship with Victorum Capital, which was being paid by the CLO as a guide on investments. Chambers later resigned.
Both the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department and the Commissioners of the Land Office had been headed by officers chosen by Gov. Kevin Stitt. Drummond, a Republican, defeated Stitt’s handpicked Attorney General John O’Connor in a GOP main final 12 months.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Governor Stitt fully supports the continuation of these investigations he called for to ensure taxpayers are protected and looks forward to the continued impartiality of the investigations to uphold the rule of law and shine a light on corruption in state government,” Stitt spokesperson Carly Atchison stated in a press release.
put up credit score to (*2*)