Bixby Business Owner Arrested For Defrauding Insurance Agents

A federal indictment lands a Bixby business owner behind bars Tuesday.

Christopher Bland, 36, is the owner and general manager of Business Consultants of South Tulsa.

He's charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of lying to a financial institution.

Oklahoma Insurance Department investigators claim Bland was taking commissions earned by insurance agents working for his company as well as opening bank accounts in the victims' names in order to access the money.

In a statement emailed to News On 6, Bland said:

"My agents signed their commissions over to my company in exchange for salaries and reduced commissions which I paid them for months. I have signed contracts from all of my agents stating this. I have all documentation regarding my corporate accounts. The department of insurance did not gather any of my information. It is my feeling they have latched onto a story for some good press. After invoking my right to have an attorney present for questioning they stopped asking questions. They never looked at my files. This all stems from a group of 8 disgruntled previous employees OUT OF 40 that I employed. It only arose after I had been paying them salaries for months and was forced to close the agency due to unrelated issues.

It's stressful enough that I am going through this, but is also hurtful that these stories run from a department of insurance press release without my side and in a manner that portrays me as guilty."