Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Lori McMahan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 1/20/2008 10:18:00 AM |

By James Beaty Senior Editor Immunity for straw donors who made illegal campaign contributions in 2004? That’s one of things Steve Phipps testified to during a hearing at the Pittsburg County Courthouse on Thursday. Phipps was called as a witness in connection with a motion filed by his wife, Brenda Phipps, to dissolve Phipps Enterprises Inc. The company was owned by former District 7 state Sen. Gene Stipe and by Steve and Brenda Phipps, until last March, according to testimony from Brenda Phipps. She said her husband, Steve Phipps, signed his interest over to her in March as part of “estate planning” as he prepared to plead guilty to a charge in federal court. Federal agents have served search warrants on property owned by Stipe and Steve Phipps as part of an investigation into corruption and related criminal activity in Eastern Oklahoma. Read more...

Labels: Gene Stipe, Steve Phipps

Posted at 8/10/2007 01:45:00 PM |

By Gary Jones OKGOP Chairman 1) Larry Witt and Steve Phipps conspired to funnel corporate contributions into the 2002 State Auditor campaign of Jeff McMahan. FBI affidavits and witnesses have testified that such money was paid to them for the purpose making said contributions. Estimated totals range from $75,000-$100,000. These funds made up a large portion of McMahan's total contributions and had a significant impact on the election results. 2) Steve Phipps met on numerous occasions in the office of the State Auditor with legislators including Mike Mass to discuss and arrange for state funds to be funneled into a scam non-profit foundation, Rural Development Foundation, located in an abstract company owned by Phipps and Gene Stripe in Antlers, Oklahoma. Both Mass and Phipps have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are now waiting sentencing to connection to the scheme. 3) After denying for months McMahan admitted to going on fishing and gambling trips paid for by Phipps. Such trips would constitute something of value received by an individual regulated by McMahan and his office and may be grounds for removal from office. 4) Duane Smith from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has reported that he was called into a meeting with the State Auditor Jeff McMahan, Mike Mass and Steve Phipps. During the meeting Smith said he was advised that Mass had put wording in the agency appropriation bill to funnel funds to a trust authority setup by Phipps to aid in selling water from Lake Eufaula. McMahan advised Smith to help get that done and he would make the audit look clean. In 2006 McMahan asked the governor to perform an audit on OFRW. The audit failed to reveal the connection between McMahan and Phipps the principle person being audited and also failed to disclose items which should have been reported and in effect provided the cover-up McMahan had promised. 5) Larry Witt (Ry-son Oil) is seeking to purchase shares in several abstract companies owned by Steve Phipps. The sale of Phipps' shares can not take place without approval of Jeff McMahan, State Auditor. 6) Witt was named in the university housing bond scandal involving Senate president Pro-Temp Mike Morgan. Morgan is also said to responsible for funneling state funds to but Stipe and Phipps' train that is sitting and rusting in Guthrie. Jeff McMahan and his office should be removed from the approval process as there exist a clear conflict of interest by McMahan in this matter. A cause of action should be filed against Phipps, Stipe and Witt to recover state funds illegally obtained. The corporate assets of Phipps Enterprises and Corporate Finance Group should be frozen until such action has been litigated. Related: ObserverBlog: "The Education of Jeff McMahan"

Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Larry Witt, Sen. Mike Morgan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 7/29/2007 09:10:00 AM |

From the McAlester News-Capital: By James Beaty Senior Editor A court-appointed receiver in the lawsuit between former District 7 state Sen. Gene Stipe and his estranged business partner, Steve Phipps, has demanded that National Pet Products pay $310,000 in delinquent accounts to Phipps Enterprises, Inc. “The deadline for a response has passed and lawsuits are being prepared to recover such substantial funds,” receiver Kraettli Q. Epperson said in documents filed at the Pittsburg County Courthouse. National Pet Products is the dog food plant on the north side of McAlester built on property sold by Stipe, according to court documents and other records. In his report, Epperson said Phipps Enterprises Inc. also owes a substantial amount of taxes. Phipps Enterprises, Inc., is identified in court documents as the company owned by Stipe, of McAlester, and Phipps, who is from the Kiowa area. Read more...

Labels: Frances Stipe, Gene Stipe, Steve Phipps

Posted at 7/26/2007 07:04:00 PM |

Labels: AG, Brad Henry, Gary Jones, Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, OKGOP, Sen. Mike Morgan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 6/25/2007 01:50:00 PM |

There is a popular board game called Jenga, that we believe symbolizes perfectly the alleged tangled and complicated financial scheme unraveling before our very eyes involving Gene Stipe, Steve Phipps, and State Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan. The object of Jenga, is for each player to take take turns taking a block out of the tower of narrow wooden blocks, and then replacing it at the top. The remaining structure, sometimes seems to defy the laws of nature, but eventually, the whole thing comes crashing down and you lose. The Mike Mass indictment is another block removed from the Rural Development Fund Jenga tower. The Tulsa World has a surprisingly in depth piece on the indictment and scandal. UPDATE: Former Lawmaker Pleads Guilty MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) _ Former state Representative Mike Mass pleaded guilty Friday to a charge that he earmarked state money to benefit a businessman. Mass, 55, entered the plea in federal court in Muskogee to mail fraud conspiracy. Mass admitted that he received payments from the unnamed businessman in return for money he sent the businessman's way. The businessman has been identified in other court documents as Steve Phipps, who owns a dog food plant and a gambling machine company, both in McAlester. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy to commit mail fraud charge is 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, however Mass could face more time than that, according to the financial loss calculated by prosecutors.

Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Mike Mass, Steve Phipps

Posted at 4/13/2007 08:46:00 AM |

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) The personal photographer of former state Senator Gene Stipe says he's been called to testify before a federal grand jury. Allen Cherry of McAlester says the subpoena also tells him to bring every photo he's taken of Stipe during the past five years. Cherry says he'll be taking about 150 photos with him to the federal courthouse in Muskogee. The grand jury initially looked into a McAlester dog food plant built on land owned by Stipe. The investigation now includes allegations of kickbacks to three former lawmakers and possible illegal campaign contributions. Stipe resigned from the state Senate in 2003 and pleaded guilty to a straw donor scheme involving the 1998 congressional campaign of Walt Roberts. RELATED: Political observers are scratching their heads. Why would a man who was given a great deal after being convicted of paying straw donors, turn around and allegedly commit the same crime again? This 1998 interview by the The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, regarding President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewsinsky, may give us insight into Stipes' thinking. GENE STIPE, Oklahoma State Senator: There's always a temptation to jump on somebody on somebody that's down. KWAME HOLMAN: Sitting in the office of his successful law practice in McAllister, Oklahoma, Democrat Gene Stipe reflected on the rough and tumble world of politics, of which he's uniquely qualified to do. Stipe, an Oklahoma state senator, has served 50 years in the legislature, longer than any other state legislator in America. Considered one of the last of the old political deal makers, Stipe is also as much a legend in Oklahoma as Carl Albert, himself. When we asked him about President Clinton's trouble, Stipe blamed it on the tabloid-minded media. GENE STIPE: It's no different than it's always been, except that the exploitation of the media of problems that used to be ignored because they were private, that no longer exists. No one has any privacy. KWAME HOLMAN: But Stipe said President Clinton shouldn't be counted out yet. GENE STIPE: The first year I was elected I rode the train with Harry Truman-if you thought of the national press, he didn't have a chance-we were all wasting our time riding around with him because he had no future-but he won the presidency and became one of the greatest presidents in a long time in my opinion. I still think there's hope for Bill Clinton.

Labels: Frances Stipe, Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Mike Mass, Steve Phipps

Posted at 4/12/2007 05:10:00 AM |

State auditor took trips with target of probe OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan says he took three trips in recent years with the owner of an abstract company who's now being investigated by a federal grand jury. Two of those trips he took with Steve Phipps were paid for by Phipps. McMahan's office regulates the abstract industry and state Ethics Commission officials say McMahan isn't allowed to take anything of value from a person or entity he regulates. McMahan spokeswoman Terri Watkins says Phipps paid for a fishing trip to Lake Texoma for McMahan and former Auditor Clifton Scott. She says he also paid for a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi, where McMahan held an educational course for Phipps' abstractors. The two also traveled to New Orleans but Watkins says McMahan paid for his expenses. Phipps and former state Senator Gene Stipe are under investigation by a grand jury in Muskogee which is looking into several abstract companies the men co-own and possible illegal campaign contributions.

Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 3/29/2007 12:15:00 PM |

State Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan hypnotized at a Steve Phipps Christmas party. From The McCarville Report Online: Jeff McMahan's claims that he knows Steve Phipps only casually are wilting under scrutiny. Here are the public facts at this time: 1 - Phipps' son sang the jingle McMahan used in his 2002 campaign; 2 - McMahan was a guest of honor at a Phipps' Christmas party where he was hypnotized as part of the entertainment; 3 - Gene Stipe at one point described Phipps as McMahan's campaign manager; 4 - Phipps and Stipe were described as McMahan's "money machine" in the 2002 campaign; 5 - Phipps was an active fundraiser for McMahan in 2002 and, some claim, early in the 2006 campaign as well; 6 - Democratic consultant Pat Hall, McMahan's 2002 primary campaign operative, was listed as a paid consultant for Phipps' Rural Development Foundation according to the latest FBI affidavit filed in the Stipe-Phipps investigation. Read more...

Labels: Jeff McMahan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 3/19/2007 08:30:00 AM |

By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer MUSKOGEE -- Former state Rep. Mike Mass of Hartshorne was at the federal courthouse in Muskogee the same day a grand jury was in session Wednesday, but he said he was not there to testify. Mass, who is embroiled in an FBI investigation involving former longtime state Sen. Gene Stipe, visited the local office of the Oklahoma attorney general two days after he was subpoenaed to testify in a civil trial involving Stipe and Stipe's former business partner, Steve Phipps. The investigation concerns an alleged straw donor scheme in which people who contributed to several Democratic campaigns -- including that of U.S. Rep Dan Boren -- were reimbursed by companies controlled by Stipe and Phipps. Boren has claimed no knowledge of the scheme. Read more...

Labels: Cong. Dan Boren, Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Mike Mass, Steve Phipps

Posted at 3/15/2007 02:40:00 PM |

From Tulsa Today: (excerpt) Gary Jones, a Republican who narrowly lost two elections to Democrat State Auditor Jeff McMahan in 2002 and 2006, told Tulsa Today that it was the trail of campaign contributions from Gene Stipe, Steve Phipps and their employees to McMahan’s 2002 campaign that led to the discovery of the scheme to funnel millions in tax dollars to Stipe, Phipps, and former Democrat State Reps. Mass, Erwin and Hefner. State Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahanAfter losing the 2002 election, Jones said he had suspected a Stipe-McMahan connection since 2003, after reading the list of straw donors to Walt Robert’s 1998 campaign. “What really threw up a red flag was the article in the Oklahoman in 2004 about the now-famous National Pet Products, the dog food factory in McAlester. The article listed Gene Stipe, Stipe’s brother Francis, his partner Steve Phipps, along with Karen Carper and Roy Hattridge. What else did these people have in common? They were all major contributors to Jeff McMahan’s campaign,” Jones told Tulsa Today. While Jones was serving as Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, he said people sent him information claiming meetings were being held in the State Auditor’s basement conference room involving Reps. Mike Mass and Randall Erwin, and Stipe’s partner, Steve Phipps. “Supposedly, the topic of discussion was how they could all benefit from the expanded gambling laws, and one person told me that Mass was heard bragging that if they got this through, they would never have to work another day in their lives,” Jones said. “The Internet is an amazing tool,” Jones said. “It allows you to do research and find things in minutes that might take years to do manually – or go undiscovered otherwise. I did a Google search of Steve Phipps, and the first thing that popped up was a press release from the Oklahoma House of Representatives about a newly formed organization called the Rural Development Foundation being awarded a water permit for 25 billion gallons of water from Lake Eufaula – and Steve Phipps was listed as their consultant. Searching further on the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Web site for Rural Development, it revealed that RDF office was located in Antler’s – at the same address as an abstract company owned by Gene Stipe and Steve Phipps.” Jones shared that information with an Oklahoma state representative, whose further research found that RDF had received a $350,000 line item appropriation in the Department of Commerce’s funding bill. He called back later to say that they received another $350,000 as a line item in the appropriation bill for the Department of Agriculture. Jones said his continued Internet searches led him to a Web site called http://www.followthemoney.org/, where he discovered that the board members of RDF had also contributed to McMahan’s campaign. When Jones entered their names into a Google search, it brought up the Oklahoma State auditor’s Web site and listing employees of all the abstract companies in Oklahoma by county. McMahan’s office regulates all Oklahoma abstract companies. Stipe and Phipps’s biggest venture together are numerous jointly owned abstract companies. This latest search by Tulsa Today shows that several board members of RDF were also employees of abstract companies owned by Stipe and Phipps, and that dozen of other Stipe and Phipps employees were also McMahan contributors. Read more... Click here to view contributions to McMahan from Stipe, Phipps, and employees.

Labels: Frances Stipe, Gary Jones, Gene Stipe, Karen Carper, Mike Mass, Randall Erwin, Roy Hattridge, Steve Phipps

Posted at 3/12/2007 10:15:00 AM |

We admit we're not big fans of today's reality shows. To us, they poignantly illustrate the void of creativity currently in the entertainment industry. But there is one show that has our attention every week. That show is the NBC Dateline series "To Catch a Predator". It has our interest, not because of the luridness of grown men having sexually charged online chats with underage girls and sometime underage boys. Or the sick perverts often driving several hours and hundreds of miles to the teenage decoy's home to engage in their disgusting fantasies. No. It is the fascination that with all the publicity the show has garnered over the months, there are still people who will risk everything; reputation, marriages, careers, and freedom to still attempt to break the law. There once was an episode of a pervert being busted twice in the same show! Our fascination is similar to the almost magnetic attraction human beings have with watching fist fights or traffic accidents. This brings us to former state Senator Gene Stipe The FBI says Stipe continued to illegally fund political campaigns EVEN AFTER HE WAS CONVICTED OF DOING THE SAME THING! The Oklahoman reports today that an unsealed affidavit says Stipe gave over $34,000 dollars to Congressman Dan Boren's 2004 primary campaign by reimbursing friends and associates for their contributions. Boren says he wasn't aware of the scheme. The March 2004 contributions were made two months after Stipe was sentenced to house arrest and fined more than $735,000 dollars for a similar scheme in a 1998 congressional campaign.

Labels: Cong. Dan Boren, Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 3/09/2007 01:00:00 PM |

The McCarville Report Online: Does Federal Probe Of Rural Development Foundation Extend To McMahan, Erwin, Mass? SIXTH IN A SERIES ~ A federal investigation into the controversial Rural Development Foundation (RDF) in Antlers may now include questions about an alleged meeting that included RDF consultant Steve Phipps, State Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan, State Rep. Mike Mass and former State Rep. Randall Erwin, it has been learned. The questions could be important because the man behind the foundation, Kiowa resident Phipps, was a partner with State Senator Gene Stipe in nine abstract companies, and McMahan licenses and regulates abstractors. In a possible related article: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) State Senator Kenneth Corn is calling for more prison space.

Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Mike Mass, Randall Erwin, Rural Dev. Fund, Steve Phipps

Posted at 10/11/2006 01:45:00 PM |

The McCarville Report Online: FOURTH IN A SERIES ~ State Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan, who has life-and-death control over the certificates of authority for abstract companies to operate, has received about $149,000 in donations from 220 abstractors and abstract company employees for his 2002 and 2006 campaigns. Abstractor support of McMahan began in his first campaign for the office in 2002, when 132 abstractors and employees in their offices donated $81,000 at critical times in McMahan's campaign. A large part of the total came from then-abstract company partners Gene Stipe and Steve Phipps, who owned nine abstract entities doing business mostly in southeastern Oklahoma, and their associates and employees. Stipe, the Democrat former state senator forced to resign and surrender his law license after conviction on federal felony counts tied to illegal congressional campaign contributions, perjury, conspiracy and trying to obstruct a Federal Election Commission investigation, formed the companies with Phipps, of Kiowa. The two split and at last report were faced off in a legal battle instituted by Stipe last year. Read more..

Labels: Gene Stipe, Jeff McMahan, Steve Phipps

Posted at 10/05/2006 11:30:00 AM |