Lawmaker indicted in 'shocking' scheme to rip off pandemic relief money

Federal prosecutors have indicted and arrested a Democratic Georgia state representative for allegedly stealing almost $18,000 in pandemic relief funds by lying about where she worked.

According to 11Alive.com, Rep. Sharon Henderson, who represents a district just southeast of Atlanta, is charged with two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of false statements.

"The Department of Justice alleges that state Rep. Henderson applied for federal pandemic unemployment benefits while running for the Georgia House in 2020, claiming her 'current employer' at that time was Henry County Schools," said the report.

However, while she has worked as a teacher, she only worked five days as a substitute at Henry County Schools, and "her official Georgia House bio ... says she has spent time in the last several years as a substitute teacher and special needs paraprofessional in several public schools in her district, but makes no specific mention of the Henry County school district."

That bio appears to have been removed from the government website, according to the report.

Henderson collected $17,811 in pandemic relief money during this alleged scheme, authorities said, taking money that was intended for people who were laid off or furloughed from their jobs, despite the fact that she was working in other schools during the time she claimed to have been out of work from one specific school.

Theodore S. Hertzberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, issued a statement saying, “It is shocking that a public official would allegedly lie to profit from an emergency program designed to help suffering community members. Politicians who violate the public trust and steal from the needy to enrich themselves will be held accountable.”

Henderson joins a list of other elected lawmakers who have been accused of ripping off pandemic relief funds.

Former Missouri GOP Rep. Patricia Derges was convicted in 2022 of wire fraud, false statements, and illegal distribution of controlled substances, following a scheme in which she stole pandemic aid, sold fake stem-cell treatments to patients, and illegally handed out narcotics prescriptions.