Suit claims Oklahoma owes Swadley's more money for contractor work at state parks
As the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation continues its probe into potential misuses of taxpayer funds through a one-of-a-kind vendor agreement with Swadley's Bar-B-Q, the state attorney general is suing Brent Swadley for breach of contract.
Swadley on Thursday submitted what he and his lawyers claim is an independent audit to the court in support of counterclaims he's made against the state. Swadley has previously used the lawsuit to submit selected details about the work his company did as a contractor for the state between 2019 and 2021.
Swadley's developed and operated Swadley's Foggy Bottom Kitchen cafes at six state parks starting in the summer of 2020.
More:Swadley's countersuit: Oklahoma tourism department 'got exactly what it wanted'
Along with the OSBI, a 15-member, bipartisan House Special Investigative Committee is reviewing circumstances surrounding the deal, which gave Swadley generous terms and extraordinary power that raised questions with legislators. Hearings have been on hold since June. The chairman of the committee, Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, was arrested recently on a DUI complaint by Edmond police.
And on Monday, a judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit Brent Swadley filed against a former employee who became a whistleblower, Curt Breuklander.
Swadley has refused repeated attempts to speak to The Oklahoman.
What has Swadley's alleged?
According to reporting by News9, Bryan King, attorney for Swadley's, said an "independent accountant's report" provides clearer details that help bolster Swadley's countersuit.
The report claims Swadley's was paid $15.9 million, leaving an unpaid balance of more than $1.1 million "on open submitted invoices." The report also states an additional $3,342,379 in operating losses is owed for the final 10 months of the contract.
"The State has expressly requested that Swadley’s produce to them any accounting or auditing reports. Now that Swadley’s has done precisely what the State requested, the State apparently doesn’t like what it reveals,” King told News9 via email.
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department said Friday that state payments to Swadley's were halted when an investigation into the payments was launched.
"The state stopped payment to the vendor when concerns arose regarding billing inconsistencies and in order to assure the protection of taxpayer dollars all payments were immediately stopped. Due to ongoing investigations no other comment can be made at this time,” Brett Thomas, the agency's general counsel, said in statement to The Oklahoman.
Why is Swadley's being investigated?
A March report from the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), which questioned the contract and showed sloppy accounting, triggered an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation probe. The Tourism department announced it canceled its contract with Swadley's due to "suspected fraudulent activity" and subsequently filed a breach of contract suit against the company.
More:Was Swadley's state parks deal with Oklahoma too lucrative? We dive into records
“The contract alone reeked from top to bottom, and continuing revelations about the activities surrounding it have been even more troubling,” Martinez said at the time. “There have been too many incomplete, inconsistent answers to legitimate questions about how millions of tax dollars were spent.”
How much did Foggy Bottom contract cost?
The state has paid Swadley's about$16.7 millionin management fees and reimbursements since the deal was struck, according to the LOFT report. State records show charges often lacked receipts and emails. Text messages obtained by The Oklahoman raise questions about potential overcharges that were ultimately footed by taxpayers.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Swadley's Bar-B-Q says state owes company close to $6 million
