Oklahoma City’s police department is the latest law enforcement agency exposed for mishandling forfeited money. Former city attorney Orval Jones blew the whistle, accusing the city of participating in a “nefarious scheme” to divert forfeiture proceeds into police coffers instead of returning property to owners or using it to reimburse victims and the courts.
As reported by The Oklahoman, Jones compiled a list of seizures spanning over 20 years that totaled over $400,000 in misappropriated funds. He says many “unclaimed property” cases labeled owners as unknown even though their information appeared in police reports. In one 2017 case, $7,000 was kept in a police forfeiture fund because an address was missing from paperwork. When the owner sued, he was reimbursed with taxpayer funds while police kept the cash. After bringing these findings forward, Jones was reassigned at the police chief’s request and later resigned “under duress.”
“It is critical for the reputation of Oklahoma City that we are not considered the center of highway robbery in the heart of the country,” Jones wrote in an email to a city official…