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Former Candidate Sentenced for $600K Fund Theft
ATLANTA – Kevin Edwards, a former political candidate and nightclub owner, has been sentenced to two years, three months in federal prison for stealing federal funds administered by the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency (AWDA).
Edwards stole over $600,000 in grant funds intended to train unemployed Atlanta citizens, said U. S. Attorney John Horn. "He chose to steal money rather than training employees for long-term employment," Horn stated. "The federal government lost valuable grant funds, and those seeking job training were cheated out of an opportunity to obtain job skills."
The U.S. Department of Labor entrusted Edwards to provide training services to those in Atlanta affected by unemployment. However, Edwards victimized workers by assigning them odd jobs such as cleaning and paying them far less than he reported, said Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
Edwards, a former budget analyst with the City of Atlanta, political candidate, and nightclub owner, owned or controlled three companies in Atlanta between 2010 and 2012. During this three-year period, the three companies owned or controlled by Edwards received approximately $649,000 in OJT funds from the AWDA.
He falsely represented to AWDA that his companies, Cronus Development, LLC (Cronus), CGE Construction and Consulting, Inc. (CGE), and The Elite Academy and Learning Center (Elite), would hire and train employees with the goal of full-time employment. Instead, Edwards failed to provide training programs, submitted forged and fraudulent wage reimbursement requests for employees that never worked for his companies, and paid workers only a fraction of the salary reported to AWDA.
Kevin Edwards, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Steven C. Jones to two years, three months in federal prison and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $489,710.43. On December 13, 2016, Edwards pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Brown prosecuted the criminal case.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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