ATLANTA — A former state employee with the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency was sentenced Thursday in a complex, multi-year scheme where she embezzled $1.3 million in funds earmarked for disabled people, authorities said.
The woman was sentenced to five years in prison for the scheme where she forged educational records and created fake students with non-existent disabilities.
“The State of Georgia trusted [her] to serve some of its most vulnerable citizens – Georgians with significant disabilities and illnesses,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said. “Driven by greed more than integrity, [she] betrayed that trust and masterminded a complex scheme to invent fake students with non-existent disabilities through forging medical, educational, and financial records."
According to the statement from the FBI, between May 2016 to November 2020, the 37-year-old woman and a close relative allegedly conspired to steal money from the GVRA by claiming educational expenses for approximately 13 fake students. They would use the names of actual friends and relatives as the names of the fake disabled students seeking tuition assistance from the GVRA, the report added.
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“Not only is theft of government money a serious crime that will be vigorously investigated, but all too often it also deprives our most vulnerable citizens of vital assistance,” Georgia State Inspector General Scott McAfee said.
They would then provide the GVRA with doctored images of fake driver's licenses that listed the names of their friends and relatives, authorities said. The suspect and her relative would allegedly use photo-editing software to alter authentic college transcripts, financial aid reports, and proofs of registration from actual GVRA clients to support the claims that these fake students attended certain state universities in Georgia.
Based on fake documentation, she caused more than 230 checks to be mailed to roughly 13 friends and relatives for supposed educational expenses when in fact, none of the 13 supposed students were enrolled in any colleges or universities, the FBI report states.
“Through her alleged scheme, [she] targeted money meant for those with disabilities trying to improve their lives,” Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta said.
