Oklahoma state GOP senator admits to $1.8M in fraud

A two-term Oklahoma state senator admitted in federal court Thursday he stole $1.8 million from the nonprofit agency where he worked and filed a false tax return.

Republican Sen. Rick Brinkley admitted wrongdoing on all six charges against him: five counts of wire fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

He resigned from his seat just before the hearing yesterday.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation had said earlier this year it was looking into allegations that funds were misappropriated at the Better Business Bureau in Tulsa, where Brinkley worked for more than 15 years before he was fired in April.

A lawsuit filed by the BBB claimed Brinkley set up fake corporations in order to steal over $1.8 million from the nonprofit.

Read more from The Associated Press.