Posted on 01/06/2026 7:12:37 AM PST by dynachrome
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A second Georgia lawmaker has been charged with defrauding taxpayers by receiving pandemic unemployment assistance that she was not entitled to.
A federal grand jury indicted State Rep. Karen Bennett (D-Stone Mountain) on Monday.
Prosecutors say she received $13,940 for her in-home physical therapy company, Metro Therapy Providers, which she says could not operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, investigators say the company was only briefly closed, and remained open through the majority of the pandemic.
On her application, Bennett only reported receiving income from Metro Therapy and the Georgia General Assembly. But she failed to disclose that she was also employed through a church and receiving more than $900 weekly.
She was indicted on one count of making false statements.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsbtv.com ...
In the news article her skin color picture is a lot lighter.
Both Bennett and the other Georgia Democrat (Lynn Heffner, a/k/a Lynn Gladney) who recently resigned represent safe Democrat districts, in case anyone is wondering about the likely outcome of special elections.
Republicans hold 99 seats in the GA House, to 81 for the Democrats (actually 80 at the moment, accounting for Heffner’s resignation).
crimewatchatlanta.com
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A former Georgia state representative was indicted Monday on alleged pandemic-related fraud. Former state Rep. Karen Bennett, a Democrat from Stone Mountain, is facing a federal charge of making false statements, according to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Bennett represented House District 94, which covers parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, from 2012 until she retired from the legislature on Jan. 1.
Former Georgia state Rep. Karen Bennett is facing a false statements charge related to alleged pandemic fraud. (Georgia House of Representatives) She is accused of collecting $13,940 after filing a false application for benefits with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (PUA) in May 2020, according to the indictment.
The PUA was created to provide federally funded unemployment-related benefits to those whose jobs were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but who were ineligible for regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, including those who were self-employed, gig workers and 1099 independent contractors.To qualify for PUA, workers had to first apply for and be denied UI benefits.
According to the indictment, Bennett applied for UI benefits in April 2020 but was deemed ineligible. The next month, she applied for PUA benefits, disclosing two employers: the Georgia General Assembly and Metro Therapy Providers Inc., a physical therapy business she owned in DeKalb County. In her application, Bennett allegedly said her work at Metro Therapy, which she claimed consisted of providing in-home physical therapy services, was her primary occupation and primary means of livelihood.
Bennett claimed she was last able to work on April 10, 2020, and that the pandemic prevented her from performing any services with the company, the indictment says. She allegedly claimed she was “unable to reach my place of employment because of a quarantine imposed as a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency,” and could not return to work because the “policies of the program required shelter.”
CORRUPT BLACK CULTURE AGAIN
CONT’D......in place guidelines and person to person contact is not accepted.’ Bennett further claimed she would be able to provide documentation to prove COVID-19 was the cause of her unemployment. ‘In reality, Bennett was not prevented from performing her work for Metro Therapy or reaching her place of employment because of COVID-19 quarantine,’ the indictment says. Instead, prosecutors allege Bennett’s role with the company was an administrative one that she performed from her home office.
‘She was able to continue working as usual from her home to support Metro Therapy throughout the pandemic, and the therapists who provided actual services to clients were able to continue their work after a brief disruption,’ the indictment says. Once her application was approved, Bennett submitted online certifications every week for which she requested benefits, prosecutors allege. ‘In each of those certifications, while she stated that she was receiving $300 per week from the General Assembly, she disclosed no other income,’ the indictment says. Bennett allegedly claimed in every certification that she had not received payments that week from Metro Therapy or other employers besides the legislature, and that she was ‘able, available and actively seeking work’ during the week.
On the certifications, Bennett claimed she was either unable to work in her Metro Therapy office because of quarantine restrictions or ‘experienced a significant reduction of my customary or usual services’ because of the public health emergency, according to prosecutors.
‘However, in reality, Bennett was not actively seeking work, Bennett was not prevented from working for Metro Therapy because of a COVID-19 quarantine, and Metro Therapy was still operating and receiving income,’ the indictment says. The indictment further alleges that on the PUA application and weekly certifications, Bennett did not disclose that she was also employed by a church. She allegedly received a
Is that Biden next to her?
“Both Bennett and the other Georgia Democrat (Lynn Heffner, a/k/a Lynn Gladney) who recently resigned represent safe Democrat districts, in case anyone is wondering about the likely outcome of special elections.”
And so does Sharon Henderson (D), who was indicted along with Bennett. Heffner resigned as the result of a different crime than Bennett and Henderson. The 2 recent indictees have not resigned, but even if they do they will be replaced by others exactly like them.
Governor Kemp should hold off as long as possible on scheduling special elections, in order to keep the Rats down a seat or 3 in the GA House.
Received during Operation Covid, the greatest scam ever successfully pushed on the world population. When they have to literally change the definition of the word pandemic, there was no pandemic.
Thank God I live 30 minutes from GA. I got a badly needed haircut when Kemp opened GA. That said my local bar Tailgators earned by unending loyalty by opening up normally with zero stupid COVID restrictions. Meanwhile just down the street the Full Moon Saloon required masks, put up plastic barriers and blocked off tables. The waitresses were miserable.
$13,940
I am regularly amazed at how politicians risk prison for pittances.
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