A parish agency that distributed money for federal housing during the COVID-19 pandemic spent too much on developer fees, spent money before contracts were in place and made duplicate payments, an audit said.
Officials are investigating the agency's actions during former Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's time in office.
The audit was done under Broome's administration and highlights a project to build three small homes in Central. The cost for the homes grew from $220,000 to almost $500,000, the audit said, and the developer collected more than quadruple the amount of personal fees he was originally owed.
The developer, Jason Hughes of Hughes Consultant Group LLC, told The Advocate that any excess fees he collected were the city-parish's fault, not his.
"In my opinion, after looking back on it, the people that were in place had no idea or no understanding of how that money worked and how it was supposed to be spent," Hughes told the newspaper about the city-parish development office. "That led to putting people like myself and other developers in bad situations."
WBRZ reached out to Jason Hughes, who said he does not wish to give any statements at this time. --->READ MORE HERE
A federal jury in Albany, Ga., convicted Malcolm Jeffrey, 34, of Cordele, Ga., Friday for his participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said schemes like this are all too common and the Criminal Division is resolved to bringing the fraudsters to justice. “The defendant and his co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme where they used stolen identities to submit fraudulent unemployment claims in order to steal millions of dollars of funds intended for the benefit of unemployed Americans.”
Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Ulrich of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPIS-OIG) reinforced their dedication to holding individuals who exploit federal relief programs for personal gain accountable. “As proven in this case, our criminal investigators along with our law enforcement partners will work together and diligently pursue anyone who attempts to exploit programs created to help legitimate people and businesses affected by the global pandemic.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jeffrey and his co-conspirators caused more than approximately 7,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims to be filed with the GaDOL, resulting in more than $16 million in stolen benefits. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
Three Charged with $2 Million Pandemic Fraud Schemes
Pandemic’s Emotional Toll on Moms Lingers – Could Self-Compassion Help?
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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