The father and son owners of an Oklahoma publishing company have been charged with conducting fraudulent business practices.
The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office on Thursday filed felony charges against both Richard Tate and Ryan Tate of embezzlement, extortion by threat and racketeering and misdemeanor embezzlement.
The owners of Tate Publishing and Enterprise in Mustang were arrested Thursday morning and ordered jailed on $100,000 bond each. Court records do not list attorneys for them and a message left with Tate Publishing was not returned.
Attorney General Mike Hunter says the Tates defrauded authors and musicians across the country who contracted with them to publish their work. Hunter says money from the sales of books and music was transferred to the personal checking accounts of both Tates.