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Oklahoma contractor charged with embezzlement totaling more than $1.2 million

Ernie Journeys
/
Unsplash

A contractor in the Tulsa area faces 17 counts of felony embezzlement and one count of engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses following an investigation by Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Consumer Protection Unit.

Charges were filed this week in Creek County against Todd Douglas Briggs, who operated T Briggs Construction and Oasis Pools and Outdoor Living. Seventeen customers say he took money from them for home or pool construction that he never completed or for which he never paid subcontractors. Those funds add up to $1,270,548.

The customers listed in the case’s affidavit have properties in Tulsa, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Collinsville, Sapulpa, Bixby and Beggs.

Briggs informed customers in July 2023 that he was filing for bankruptcy, only days after receiving substantial payments from several of them. Many were left with unfinished projects and had liens placed against their homes by unpaid subcontractors.

At the time, Brandy Ford, the exclusive real estate agent for Briggs, voluntarily reported she was a witness to a crime to the Tulsa Police Department.

Ford reported she assisted clients in contracting with Briggs for the construction of new homes and/or pools. She said Briggs recently informed her he was closing his businesses and was filing for bankruptcy.

Ford advised officers that Briggs had multiple customers who paid him in full for projects he did not complete and did not intend to complete because he was "out of money." The police department ultimately turned the investigation over to the Office of the Attorney General.

Drummond encourages anyone who believes they may have been a victim of contractor fraud to contact the Consumer Protection Unit at 1-833-681-1895 or Oklahoma.gov/oag.


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Sierra Pfeifer is a reporter covering mental health and addiction at KOSU. She joined KOSU in July 2024 as a corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative that places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the country.
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