Jay Jones, the former executive vice president of Commercial Financial Services Inc., a defunct company that bought delinquent credit card debts and tried to collect on them, is himself behind on state taxes.
Jones owes Oklahoma about $2.6 million, according to the state's Tax Commission. The agency began posting outstanding tax warrants online in November. Jones is listed as one of the state's top 10 delinquent taxpayers.
Commercial Financial, of Tulsa, failed in 1999. The circumstance surrounding the failure led to a federal grand jury indictment of Jones and Bill Bartmann, the company's chief executive.
The men were accused of creating a shell company to inflate Commercial Financial's performance. Bartmann was acquitted and last year returned to the debt-buying industry.
Jones pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and was sentenced to five years in prison. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show he was released in 2007. Attempts to reach Jones for comment were unsuccessful.
Last year the commission hired a collection agency to get the unpaid taxes from Jones.
Jones told reporters last year that he had given all of his assets to the government before going to prison. He agreed to give up some wages if needed but said he had nothing else.
The Tax Commission sends out a letter 90 days before the information goes online.
Penalties depend on the type of debt, and interest accrues at an annual rate of 15%, said Paula Ross, a spokeswoman for the commission.
As of Nov. 25, publication of the list had not prompted any payments.
