FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Eight former state employees have been indicted in Fulton County, according to Attorney General Chris Carr on Thursday.
A statement from the attorney general's office noted that these individuals are alleged to have submitted false claims and weekly certifications to the Georgia Department of Labor in order to receive unemployment insurance benefits while they were actively employed.
RELATED: Georgia audit finds $6.7 million in pandemic unemployment payments went to full-time state employees
All of this is alleged to have happened during the pandemic.
The release adds that the AG's office presented evidence of these crimes back on July 27 to a grand jury in Fulton County.
“Government employees are entrusted to operate honesty and ethically, and those who do not will be held accountable,” said Attorney General Carr. “We will not hesitate to pursue any individual who works for our state and seeks to illegally obtain public funds for their own personal gain. We are committed to protecting taxpayer dollars no matter the amount, and this type of fraud will not be tolerated.”
The charges against the eight people - which include numerous counts of false statements and violations of the Georgia Employment Security Law - follow on a report by the Georgia Office of the Inspector General earlier this year that said $6.7 million in pandemic unemployment payments had gone to state employees who were never unemployed.
According to the findings by then-Inspector General Scott McAfee, at least 280 full-time employees received $6.7 million in unemployment payments in 2020 and 2021, an average of $23,700 per employee.
Interim Georgia Inspector General Nigel Lange said in a statement that, “Georgia public servants who seek to illegally further their own interests rather than those of the public they serve will be caught."
"These indictments send a clear message to any likeminded individuals. OIG is focused on reducing corruption in State government and relies upon the vigilance of its partner agencies to continue with the mission," Lange said.
Some of the cases highlighted by the inspector general's letter earlier this year included a Georgia Department of Labor employee who was tasked with examining unemployment claims, and who received more than $30,000 through a fraudulent unemployment account they maintained from inside the DOL.
A Georgia Department of Transportation area manager also received nearly $40,000, and a Department of Revenue tax examiner received more than $19,000 even as he was employed by the DOR's Office of Special Investigations.
In one other instance, three Department of Corrections employees filed their unemployment claims while on-duty in state offices.
Roughly two dozen state employees were interviewed as part of the audit, according to the letter, "nearly all" of whom were fired.
