Former CFO of company with Oklahoma offices pleads guilty to tax and bank fraud

TULSA, Okla. — A former chief financial officer for a company with Oklahoma offices pleaded guilty after failing to pay the IRS $3.6 million in income and social security tax withholdings and embezzling more than $130,000 from employer’s bank account.

Paul B. Bowker fled the U.S. three years ago after being charged with these crimes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office received a tip they gave local authorities leading to Bowker’s arrest in the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday, Bowker pleaded guilty to one count of failure to account for and pay over withholding and social security taxes and one count of bank fraud.

Bowker, prior to the crime, was the chief financial officer and vice president of finance for a company that housed offices in the Northern District of Oklahoma. He was responsible for withholding income and social security taxes from employees’ paychecks and paying them over to the IRS.

According to court documents, between April 2014 and January 2016, Bowker withheld the funds but actively failed to file employment tax returns for the company or pay over the $3.6 million in taxes owed to the IRS.

Agents discovered during the investigation, Bowker had not embezzled the funds he withheld so the IRS was able to recover them.

Bowker also pleaded guilty to bank fraud as he was entrusted to pay the company;s monthly credit card bill by transferring funds from the company’s checking account at Mabrey Bank in Bixby to its Visa account.

According to the investigators, between January 2014 to December 2015, Bowker used the company’s credit card to make $130,000 worth of personal purchases.

Bowker did this by calling the credit card processor and authorizing a one-time electronic transfer to pay for the credit card bill. By doing this over the phone, he was able to avoid the company’s two-signature requirement on company checks.

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