A state representative in Georgia was arrested Monday on charges of stealing pandemic unemployment benefits from the government and making false statements to cover for it.
Sharon Henderson, a Democrat and member of the Georgia House of Representatives, wrongly claimed she had been employed as a substitute teacher in Henry County just before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said.
In fact, she hadn’t been a substitute teacher since 2018, they said. And substitute teachers weren’t supposed to draw unemployment anyway.
Ms. Henderson is accused of collecting $17,811 in money she wasn’t entitled to.
“It is shocking that a public official would allegedly lie to profit from an emergency program designed to help suffering community members,” said Theodore S. Hertzberg, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta.
Prosecutors said Ms. Henderson claimed to have paystubs showing she had worked for the school system in 2019 and up to March 10, 2020, or just before the pandemic-induced shutdowns took hold.
She then submitted certifications claiming she was out of work due to the pandemic.
Ms. Henderson won election to her seat in 2020 and took office in early 2021. Some of her certifications were filed in June 2021, even after she was sitting in her elected office.
Unemployment benefits were a massive source of fraud during the pandemic, after the federal government approved enhanced payments and ordered states to relax controls on verifying eligibility.
The goal was to get money out the door faster, but experts say the result was that hundreds of billions of dollars may have ended up with fraudsters.
The Washington Times has reached out to Ms. Henderson’s legislative office for comment.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
