Broken Arrow woman skimmed more than $650,000 in Tulsa Expo Square embezzlement scheme

A Broken Arrow woman pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to charges related to the embezzlement of $654,579 while she was employed with the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority (TCPFA).

Brandy Okey, 40, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and to signing a false tax return. In her written plea agreement, Okey admitted that from December 2015 to September 2018, she carried out a scheme in which she embezzled funds while employed with the TCPFA then later failed to report illegally obtained funds on a tax return.

“Greedy Brandy Okey embezzled from the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority box office sales at Expo Square. Her scheme wasn’t particularly complex, but she used her position of trust to gain access to the funds and cover it up,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Roberts, the credit for holding Ms. Okey accountable goes to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division. I’m thankful the TCPFA reached out to let us know something was amiss. I hope other public authorities or corporate boards see this as an example of how federal justice officials can help them recover stolen money, hold accountable wrongdoers, and deter white collar crime.”

In her position with TCPFA, Okey was responsible for accounting and financial management. Okey admitted that she used her access to the Expo Square box office cash collections to take cash funds. She then deposited a portion of the embezzled cash funds into personal bank accounts for her own use. Okey further used a portion of the cash funds to directly pay for personal expenses without depositing the funds.

In order to conceal her scheme, Okey shredded the original deposit slips or prepared new slips showing a lower deposit amount. To further hide her scheme, Okey admitted that she did not accurately record box office collections on TCPFA financial statements. The fraudulent statements were emailed to the company’s Board of Directors.

Okey also admitted that she made and signed a false tax return for the year 2017 when she knowingly failed to report approximately $294,450 of income acquired through the scheme that year.

Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell scheduled Okey’s sentencing for June 8, 2020.

The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Roberts is prosecuting the case.