A Norman man is accused of pretending to be an employee of the OU Athletics Department in an attempt to scam a newly formed charity.

Amber Gregg, founder and executive director of the Kelsey Briggs Foundation, said Robert Jordan Chiles offered to raise money for her organization by claiming he was working with OU head football coach Bob Stoops and former OU head football coach Barry Switzer.

“He really just came out of nowhere, and started saying that he was setting up all of these fundraisers in the name of my foundation,” Gregg said. “He originally asked us for our letterhead so it would be easier to ask people to give money to us, but we refused because we really didn’t know who he was.”

Gregg said she began to investigate Chiles and found a previous article in The Daily in which Chiles had allegedly scammed charities and written bogus checks across the state of Oklahoma.

“We were a little suspicious at first, but then when he started saying he was working with Bob Stoops, Barry Switzer and Blake Shelton to put on a large concert and a golf tournament, we became a little suspicious,” she said. “He even said he had already raised $3,000 for us to print T-shirts.”

Gregg said she is not sure if Chiles actually raised the money and is keeping it or if he was just trying to impress Gregg into giving him more access to the charity.

“If he actually raised $3,000 for us, then that money belongs to us, not him,” Gregg said. “Just because he raised money for us, and we found him suspicious, doesn’t mean that he can keep the money that he says he raised.”

As for Chiles’s claims of a golf tournament and working with Stoops, Switzer and OU Athletics, the claims are false.

Kenny Mossman, OU athletics communications director, stated in an e-mail that in his entire time working for OU Athletics (10 years), the athletics department has not set up nor sponsored any form of celebrity or charity golf tournament.

“Coaches Stoops and Switzer are not permitted to set up any type of tournament or fundraiser in the name of OU without permission,” Mossman stated.

According to its Facebook page, The Kelsey Briggs Foundation is a nonprofit corporation based in Oklahoma and founded in memory of 2-year-old Kelsey Briggs. It works for the prevention of all forms of child abuse. Kelsey Briggs was murdered by her mother and her stepfather through multiple instances of child abuse in 2005.

Gregg said she thought a recent lawsuit filed by Lance Briggs, Kelsey’s father, against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, attracted Chiles to her organization because of the assumption that her foundation would have money coming to them.

“Ever since this lawsuit began, we’ve had crazy people come out of the woodwork wanting to talk to us about money,” Gregg said. “Chiles was the first and the one wanting to do the most action. I know he says he is trying to help, but with his reputation, he is doing more harm than good.”

Gregg said Chiles attempted to use his previous position in the Oklahoma Democratic Party to try to elevate his status as an effective fundraiser, but as reported previously in The Daily, Chiles was forced to resign from his position as affirmative action chairman for the party because of allegations and charges filed against him concerning bogus check scams in the Oklahoma City gay and lesbian community.

The Daily attempted to contact Chiles at his home in Norman on two occasions and by two phone numbers five times in the past four days to get his perspective, but he did not return calls, and one number was disconnected.