The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department has told a judge in a 2022 civil case that Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen owes the state over $4.7 million for dishonest acts.

“This number represents actual damages as punitive damages are for a jury to decide,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s assistants wrote in a legal filing.

Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen is accused in the breach-of-contract case of fraudulently charging the state during its operation of restaurants at state parks. The company denies wrongdoing and claims the accusations are political. It was paid almost $16 million, according to legal filings.

More: Swadley’s Bar-B-Q owner Brent Swadley, two others indicted, charged with conspiracy, fraud

In February, it complained in a new legal filing it actually is still owed almost $2.6 million. It asked Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson to order the state to pay up.

“What happened in this case is clear,” its attorneys told the judge. “Tourism ran up a $4 million budget shortfall, encountered scrutiny, panicked and made Swadley’s FBK, the political scapegoat during an election year. But the undisputed evidence simply does not support Tourism’s narrative. In fact, the evidence reveals that it is Tourism who is liable to Swadley’s FBK, not the other way around.”

In a response on March 15, the AG’s assistants told the judge all 269 invoices submitted by the company had to be scrutinized. That scrutiny found the “defendant repeatedly breached its duty of honesty and caused damage to the public … in excess of $4,700,000.”

“Some of the breaches/misrepresentations are intentional acts that rise to the level of criminal misconduct,” they wrote in the response. “Other breaches … may only result in civil liability. … However, this is all for a jury to hear and decide.”

The response is the first time a specific number has been given in the lawsuit for the alleged state loss. A review by a hired expert of just the management fees found Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen overbilled the state $455,252, according to the response.

The controversy over the state park restaurants also has resulted in a criminal case.

The state’s multicounty grand jury last month indicted Brent Swadley, the owner of Swadley’s Bar-B-Q, and two other men.

All three face a felony count of conspiracy to defraud the state and five felony counts of presenting fraudulent claims to the state. They deny wrongdoing.

What led to the lawsuit between Swadley’s and the state’s Tourism Department?

Swadley’s Bar-B-Q made deals with the state to develop and operate Foggy Bottom Kitchen cafes at six state parks. The first one opened in 2020 during the pandemic. The last opened in 2022.

The Tourism and Recreation Department in April 2022 canceled its agreement with Swadley’s Bar-B-Q due to “suspected fraudulent activity and questionable business practices.”

Days later, the leader of the Tourism and Recreation Department resigned, and the state sued Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen.

Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen countersued, saying the “Tourism Department got exactly what it wanted with rapid construction of first-class restaurants during a pandemic.”

It asked the judge in February to make the state pay its final invoices and cover its fiscal year 2022 operational losses and other expenses.

“Tourism didn’t say anything we hadn’t already addressed in our motion,” the company’s attorney, Bryan King, said Friday. “They’ve done nothing to disprove the fact that they owe and failed to pay Swadley’s $2,592,846.

“As we’ve said all along, if there were mistakes on invoices, we are ready and willing to make them right.  We always have been, as demonstrated by the fact that we presented Tourism with credits for errors we found on our own. … This is a small family business that was tasked with a massive project so it is not a surprise at all if wires got crossed on the billing from time to time.”

More: Swadley’s claims to be state’s ‘political scapegoat’ in Facebook post

The attorney said the state’s response doesn’t take into account the work Swadley’s was asked to do outside the contract and wasn’t paid for.

“That is unjust enrichment, that is against Oklahoma law,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawsuit claims Swadley’s cheated state out of more than $4.7M