BY KIRBY LEE DAVIS

THE JOURNAL RECORD

TULSA The developers behind the
Tulsa Cancer Institutes $60 million
home have sued construction manager
Formaation for alleged slander and filing
a false lien against the Tulsa property.
Formaation manager Charles Tollef -
sen, who was not himself a defendant in
the Tulsa County District Court case,
attributed the lien to debt still owed by
plaintiff Sooner Land Partners 4 LLC.
We will soon be filing a counter-
claim because there is a significant
amount of money they owe me,
Tollefsen said in an interview Monday.
We retained counsel and theyll be fil-
ing a response, because theres a signifi-
cant amount of money due.
Sooner Land Partners 4 LLC, or
SLP4, originally hired Formaation to
manage financing and construction of
the 86,000-square-foot medical com-
plex that consolidated several different
Cancer Care Associates offices.
After applying for a mix of public
funds, Formaation and SLP4 broke
ground on the property at 12801 E. 51 St.
in October 2011. Contractor Flintco
completed principal construction on
the three-story building in June 2013.
According to the lawsuit filed July
16, SLP4 paid Formaation its contracted
fee of $2.27 million, representing man-
agement services plus 5 percent of total
project costs exceeding the initial $45.28
million construction budget. When costs
rose $3.8 million more than that budget,
SLP4 claimed it paid Formaation anoth-
er $206,450, which it claimed resulted in
a $13,830 overpayment.
SLP4 said it dropped its relationship
with Formaation around June 9 after
learning of embezzlement charges filed
against Tollefsen three days earlier
by Wagoner County Assistant District
Attorney Zachary Cabell. In its law-
suit, SLP4 said that Wagoner County
case accused Tollefsen of embezzling
about $260,101 from an unnamed client.
A June 6 affidavit in that case from
Wagoner County District Attorney Brian
J. Kuester claimed Tollefsen embezzled
$91,881 between June 2010 and Sep -
tember 2013 from a long-running
Emerald Falls construction project.
The SLP4 lawsuit before Tulsa
County District Court Judge Linda G.
Morrissey said the plaintiffs cut ties with
Formaation on June 9 even though the
Wagoner County charges were unrelated
to the Tulsa Cancer Institute project.
Formaation allegedly followed that by
sending the plaintiff a $303,745 invoice.
The plaintiffs said that notice included
no details on the services charged.
SLP4 said it demanded Formaations
return of the overpayment on June 12.
Six days later, the lawsuit said,
Formaation filed a lien with the Tulsa
County clerk, claiming the plaintiffs still
owed $495,914 or more on its bill.
Tollefsen allegedly followed that
July 11 by sending notice of the lien to
SLP4s lender.
In the lawsuit, prepared by
GableGotwals attorneys Philip D. Hixon
and Robert S. Glass, the plaintiff seeks
actual and punitive damages over this
alleged slander, as well as return of the
overpayment and other costs.
Tollefsen questioned any lack of
accounting claims over Formaations
invoice and lien.
They have a detailed invoice of
everything they have on our claim, he
said. The actual lien Tulsa County pro-
vides does not ask for the details of the
invoice, but they certainly have it.
We were responsible for arranging
some $20 million in government incen-
tives for Sooner Land Partners that they
do not have to repay, and we have been
a very beneficial contractor for them,
Tollefsen said. We didnt cost them
anything. You see what were saying?
As for the Wagoner County charges,
Tollefsen said that would be dealt with
by legal counsel.
We believe shortly all the facts will
be fairly considered by the county, not
just the limited information they had
been given to date, he said.
Formaation
manager
Charles
Tollefsen pro-
vides con-
struction
details about
the Tulsa
Cancer Insti -
tute during
an October
2011 ground-
breaking
event.
FILE PHOTO BY RIP
STELL
journalrecord.com The Journal Record July 22, 2014 13A
Tulsa Cancer Institutes developers sue construction manager