Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) has again made headlines over financial misconduct – this time involving more than $779,300 in alleged fraud using district bond money.
Twenty-seven criminal charges have been filed against Charles Christopher Hudgins, the district’s former bond director, and Allied Engineering Group owners Gayle Gwinup and Thomas McKenna, the Oklahoma Voice reported in a June 4 article.
“Investigators allege Hudgins from 2019 to 2024 used his position at TPS to have the district pay Gwinup and McKenna’s company for dozens of school roofing projects that ultimately weren’t performed,” Nuria Martinez-Keel wrote. “Allied Engineering Group then, in turn, paid most of that money to Hudgins’ personal business, court documents contend.”
Initial charges include conspiracy to defraud a school district, along with embezzlement, and more could follow as the investigation continues, according to Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
“Every dollar stolen is a dollar that never became a safe roof, a repaired classroom or a better learning environment for a Tulsa child,” he said at a news conference.
