It looks like Fox News may need to hire a new business expert!
According to a press release issued this morning by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, Ryan Tate and his dad Richard – the greedy, sinister villains behind the once-proud and very shady Tate Publishing empire – have both been arrested and indicted on eight felony charges!
Here are all the details:
Attorney General Hunter Files Charges on Ryan and Richard Tate
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter today filed eight felony charges and one misdemeanor charge against Ryan and Richard Tate for alleged fraudulent business practices the two conducted while operating their businesses, Tate Publishing and Tate Music Group.
The charges include four felony counts of embezzlement, one felony count of attempted extortion by threat, two felony counts of extortion by threat, one felony count of racketeering and one misdemeanor count of embezzlement.
Yeah, that sound you just heard was Tate Employees, book authors and the entire province of Cebu in the Philippines all popping open bottles of champagne at the same time. I’m sure this is an amazing day for all of them.
Here’s more:
Since the businesses ceased operations in January, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit has received 849 complaints from authors or musicians who contracted with the companies. Complaints from customers range from failure to deliver products and services that had been previously paid for; failure to pay royalty earnings, per contractual agreement; and refusal to return files unless the customer agreed to pay a $50 processing fee.
Attorney General Mike Hunter applauded the work of the Consumer Protection Unit and the agents who investigated the case that brought charges.
“The means by which Ryan and Richard Tate conducted business to defraud individuals from across the country is unconscionable and a blatant disregard for those who entrusted them to produce their work,” Attorney General Hunter said. “I appreciate the dedication and hard work by the agents and the attorneys in the Consumer Protection Unit, who put this case together.”
You know what, let’s give some props to Mike Hunter. It’s about time Oklahoma had an Attorney General who wants to actually protect consumers from fraudulent, disgraceful businessmen like the Tates. If Scott Pruitt was still in charge, he probably would have hit up them up for a campaign donation and asked them to publish a book about the myths of climate change.
Through the course of the investigation, agents discovered that money derived from the sale of publishing books or music were deposited into business checking accounts, then transferred to Ryan or Richard Tate’s personal checking accounts.
This morning, Canadian County Sheriff’s deputies apprehended Richard and Ryan Tate. A Canadian County judge set their bond at $100,000 each and ordered them to surrender their passports.
If convicted of these allegations, each defendant faces prison time and fines. The attorney general’s office plans to seek restitution for victims.
Couple of notes:
1. Isn’t schadenfreude great?
2. This indictment shouldn’t come as a surprise to TLO readers. We’ve been writing about Tate’s shady, unethical business practices for years.
Anyway, we’ll have more on this story as it develops. In the meantime, say a prayer for the Tates…
What a beautiful moment.
I try not being a vindictive person, but I agree that I can’t help but smile now that justice is being served! I was present for that infamous recording and was subsequently one of the 25 let go. Finally, after all of these years of thinking they were getting away with treating people so badly, they are facing the consequences.
I just listened to that entire rant/speech on my earbuds at work, and I feel sorry for you and everyone else that had to work for that slimeball. Makes me appreciate my job a lot more.
Be vindictive. Fuck these guys.
So letting employees go without cause was one of the charges? I missed that one.
Hi, Ryan.
Maybe NOW the business community, chamber of commerce, city officers in Mustang will acknowledge and completely disassociate with these complete and utter criminals.
The only I would now wish is to have someone film these douchebags while they are being evicted and maybe as they auction off all the crap they bought by stealing other people’s money.
and yes we should pray for them, and pray they receive justice…….a whole lot of it!
YES. Karma is real!
What’s really odd is that they re-opened for business this week.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/finance/mustang-based-tate-publishing-resumes-operations/article_8ad6d1c1-c4f8-5e8b-a787-22130dfff1de.html
Did they get caught off-guard, or was the re-opening to help with the defense against the imminent charges?
Awww…it’s all fake news. Alt-facts. Part of the liberal war against good, honest, hard working christians….
I hope we get to see them go from churning out vanity press to churning out vanity plates.
How about investigate the Government of Oklahoma audit where all the income for Oklahoma has gone the last 8 yrs?
a large chunk went to various lawsuit costs, restitution to other states, federal restitution and litigation bills. Your state is paying my state 200,000.00$ a year for the next 14 years on top of a 37.5 million dollar bill from our defense team for Scott Pruitt’s failed docket against us for cannabis.
The 10 commandments statue cost you almost three quarters of a billion dollars alone to process through the various state and federal court systems over those three years, then you can throw on top all the failed anti LBGT suits, the failed lawsuit over denying gay military soldiers benefits, the other 12+ cannabis lawsuits against other states which also failed, all the failed environmental suits Pruitt did up on behalf of the petrochemical industries alongside numerous other ones I can’t remember.
Oklahoma’s f**ked for the next 20 years paying all of that back unless oil magically goes back up past 140$ a barrel.
Are you kidding me? Three quarters of a billion on ten commandments litigation alone? That in itself almost equals our deficit. I knew it was stupid, but that’s unconscionable. I’d be interested in seeing any supporting documentation for that sum.
dude where in the hell are you getting the $750 million figure for 10 commandments monument litigation costs? would love to see that source…
A lot of money goes to “charitable organizations” and memberships to Associations and the like…
I find these donations made with tax payer money to be very suspect and it would seem that it would also be illegal.
“You MORONS are STUPID.” -Ryan Tate
From a former employee, good riddance to a human garbage can.
Might I also chime in again to nerd out and say what a day in that it is May the 4th. The force weighed out a little heavier on the light side today.
1ofthe25, Ryan Tate is your father.
Nooooooo!
Oh my gosh he is way past crazy. I just finally listened to the audio. How can the EEOC just let this go? Hostile workplace much? I would rather work at Braums scooping ice cream than work for this nut job. He is scary. I hope he rots in jail.
Please don’t think this guy is a christian and actually represents christianity. He is a sociopath that uses people and their beliefs to feed his greed, hunger, and lust. He has absolutely no remorse or empathy for those he leaves damaged along the way. They are simply tools for his use. Much like televangelists, dictators, and most of our politicians on both the left and the right. These people all have the same belief system – power and self-worship. They just adopt the political or religious belief system that they think will get them the most.
+1.1 Trillion (to match the new FED spending bill, LOL)
They should have been publish screed for our oil and gas industry. They’d have qualified for state subsidies.
Feed The Children is next….
Aren’t they involved with the alt-sports talk radio station The Franchise? Hey Steely, want to go back and be a morning animal again? Then you’ll have a bigger non-audience than you do now.