How ironic.
A former debt collector finds himself on the receiving end of collection activity. Don’t you just love the irony of it all?
Jay Jones, former executive vice president of defunct debt buyer Commercial Financial Services Inc. (CFS), owes approximately $2.6 million to the state of Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) which recently began posting outstanding tax warrants online.
CFS, which was based in Tulsa, filed bankruptcy in 1998, putting 3,600 employees out of work. Quite a few of those employees were friends and acquaintances of mine.
The circumstances surrounding CFS’s implosion led to a federal grand jury indictment of Jones and Bill Bartmann, the company’s CEO. The men were accused of creating a shell company, Dimat Corp., to inflate the performance of CFS.
Bartmann was acquitted but 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.
In 2008, the OTC – with a hint of irony – hired a collection agency to get the unpaid taxes from Jones.
Jones is listed as one of Oklahoma’s top ten delinquent taxpayers. All have had tax liens filed against them according to a spokesperson with the OTC.
Unlike other tax information, tax liens are public record. Individuals and businesses who can not or do not pay are given many opportunities to work out agreements with the OTC. Often, the unpaid taxes are turned over to collectors. After attempts at settling the debts fail, the OTC will file a tax lien in the county where the business or individual resides.
The OTC sends out a letter 90 days before the information goes online. Penalties depend on the type of debt and interest accrues at a rate of 15% annually according to Paula Ross, spokesperson for the OTC.
Source: PaymentsSource.com
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
CFS has interested me for years. Back in 2007, it was #6 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies. The CEO, Bill Bartmann, was chronicled in an Inc. cover story titled, “The Billionaire Nobody Knows.” His business partner was convicted of fraud, though Bartmann was acquitted.
The company’s bankruptcy was fascinating because the records revealed so many documents in connection with the debt buying industry and how it worked at the time. I, along with some of my colleagues, have pored over the court records for hundreds of hours and treated it as spectacular CLE.
Now he’s written a book about the bank bailouts, apparently created a university in Tulsa, and has remade himself into something of a financial guru.
It’s an interesting story that has gone on for a decade. Thanks for the post.
I worked at CFS and in case you aren’t aware, Bill Bartmann is not professional, ethical, or successful. He is definitely not a guru unless you define guru as a business leader who takes the stage at a company meeting and says, “You are all a bunch of goats f***ing each other in the a**.” I attended this meeting and witnessed his depravity with my own eyes and ears.
CFS was located in a building formerly owned by Oral Roberts University. Bill Bartmann has never “created a university”. That endeavor requires integrity and Bill Bartmann has none.
Tracy is exactly right! Bill is not an credible individual to say the very least – he is a wolf in sheeps clothing (just barely) – he is handicapped both mentally and physically. His lack of tact and management abilities only contributes to his ignorance.
Tracey and Beth are correct. This dude was completely unethical, unprofessional and insane. He called a meeting of his skip tracers (around 500 hundred of us) and told us that we were the reason the business was failing. He said that somehow all of us were falsifying locates, and that we were” like the Nazi’s shoving Jews into the pizza oven.“ He also said that we must have “rose colored glasses shoved up our a$$es!” He was over the top ranting and raving like a mad man. The meeting lasted at least an hour. I knew then that something was up and he had to be in on it. Acquittal or not, he is guilty as hell!
Tracy and Beth all I have to say is you must have not been hitting your monthly goals. I WAS NEVER TREATED BAD BY BILL. But I was a top performer at CFS. You worked your butt off but was rewarded well. Good pay great perks free daycare free insurance. A doctor onsight at no cost to you. And help alot of people in was you dont even know. The man is very smart give him his dues. I would work for him again anytime. And my employee number was in the 500 range. I was there for awhile. SEE YA SOON MR. Bartmann
Kathy check your meds and your memory. Bill is textbook manic depressive. When he was fooling everyone and himself, life was good with trips to Vegas and Disney World. When he crashed, he had no problem cussing out the lowest employee that they were the reason he was failing. I personally met all my goals, and my teams’ goals, and was still witness to his tirades. Are you kidding me? Joans was his patsy and you know that down deep in your soul. Please rush the Koolaid you’ve been drinking to the nearest Poison Control Center. For your own sake, you need to know that the rest of the industry operates efficiently without all his highs and lows.
I worked for Cafes at Citiplex (catering company for the FREE daycare) My mother worked for CFS and worked her butt off and was rewarded well. She also witnessed many slackers and users in the company. If you saw the bad side of Bill, you weren’t performing well. End of story. Yes, my mother lost her job, but had no ill feeling towards Bill. However, the people giving him his advice should be lynched. I personally met Bill and my family had dinner with them at their house (quite impressive house I might add). They are great people who got caught up in bad business decisions.
Carla, Tracey and Beth I’ve worked with and for Bill many years. even back in Muskogee. Hes very demanding and politically in-correct I’ll give you that. But he is a great man and a great friend. Until you have walked in his shoes and created an Ink 500 company you’ve got no room to talk about anything…….
My son Keath is exactly right. I worked for Bill for almost four years and loved every second of it. It was very hard work, very demanding, and sometimes frustrating. But the rewards more than compensated. He is a wonderful individual. He stops and talks to everyone, never too good to give a minute and listen to issues and problems. In fact, I’ve gone back to work for him again. I am very glad to be back in his employ and couldn’t ask for a better boss. The company is very ethical and gives each employee the utmost respect. The work is hard, the benefits are amazing. If you don’t mind some good old fashioned hard work, this is the place to be!