Okla. Commissioner Indicted

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carrol Fisher has been indicted, his lawyer told the Associated Press. What the indictment alleges is still unclear, though a grand jury has been investigating a Fisher-organized charity’s fundraising activities.

Fisher will be arraigned in Oklahoma County District Tuesday, Feb. 17, his lawyer Irven Box said. The indictment will also be unsealed then.

Fisher is running for the Democratic nomination for an open seat for the U.S. Senate.

According to the AP, several witnesses related to the Fisher Foundation testified before the grand jury. The group was founded in 1999 to provide shoes to children and as of May 31 had raised $54,129 but had not yet bought any shoes.

Fisher’s lawyer said the commissioner wanted to raise $100,000 as principal and then use interest funds for the stated charity purposes.

Last December, Fisher was investigated by Oklahoma’s Ethics Commission for accepting more than $30,000 in furniture, art and kitchen equipment from insurers regulated by the state. Fisher has returned the items.

Fisher has been involved in the insurance business for 40 years as a health underwriter, according to the biography available at the Oklahoma Department of Insurance’s Web site. He was president of the National Association of Health Underwriters.