Former Oklahoma mental health department leader charged with embezzlement

OKLAHOMA CITY – A former state employee was charged with embezzlement for allegedly stealing money from a foundation he helped oversee. 

Heath Hayes, 40, of Oklahoma City, was charged in Oklahoma County on Monday with one felony count of embezzlement in excess of $1,000, according to court records. 

Hayes, the former director of communications and deputy commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, is accused of embezzling $17,500 from Healthy Minds Healthy Lives while serving as a board member of the foundation that works to promote mental health in Oklahoma, according to an affidavit released by the mental health department. 

Court records show that Hayes had not been taken into custody as of Wednesday afternoon and has a bond set at $3,000. He had no lawyer listed online. 

According to the affidavit, Hayes endorsed three cashiers checks totaling over $145,000 in January and deposited the money into a Bluevine bank account. 

When “confronted,” Hayes did not deny the transactions, but “made excuses” for them, according to the affidavit. He provided bank statements, returned the money other than “a few dollars,” and resigned from the agency, according to the affidavit. 

Officials were concerned that other donations to Healthy Minds Healthy Lives totaling thousands of dollars had not reached the foundation, according to the affidavit. 

The Oklahoma City Police Department investigator wrote in the affidavit that he obtained records from Bluevine Bank for an account listed under the foundation’s name with Hayes listed as the owner. The records “contradicted the fake bank statements” Heath had provided to the state mental health agency, according to the affidavit. 

Records from Bluevine Bank, obtained by OKCPD, revealed amounts matching the cashier’s checks and three of the four missing donations, according to investigators. Debits from that account appeared to be for personal use and were transferred to other accounts in Hayes’ name, the detective wrote in the affidavit. 

“Once these allegations surfaced, the department immediately retained an outside investigator to look into the matter … This alleged wrongdoing was caught early, and the department has undertaken a comprehensive review of internal processes to ensure that this does not happen again,” Sasha Teel, chief of staff for the Mental Health Department, said in a statement Wednesday.

If convicted, Hayes could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 and have to pay restitution. 

Editor’s note: This story was corrected Wednesday afternoon to remove a link to the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative website, which is a different mental health initiative. It was also updated to shorten the description of Healthy Minds Healthy Lives’ mission.