A federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia has found Shelitha Robertson, 62, of Atlanta, an experienced lawyer, guilty of fraud and conspiracy conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud itself, and money laundering after it was discovered that she had stolen $7 million from the COVID Relief Fund. Of course she only bought the bare necessities such as a ten carat diamond ring for $148,999 and a Rolls Royce. The bad news is that it is your hard earned tax dollars paying for it.
More than $200 billion in Covid relief loans and grants were distributed to potentially fraudulent actors, nearly one-fifth of all Small Business Administration funds disbursed in the U.S., according to a new estimate by the inspector general for the SBA. The Biden administration has bragged that they have recovered $1.4 billion dollars but that is a drop in the bucket compared to the $200 billion that was stolen. Another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. That brings the total to $323 billion dollars out of the $1.2 trillion that was allocated for the fund.
That means that about 27% of the $1.2 trillion that was allocated for the fund was either stolen, misspent, or wasted. Remember that, at at the time the money was allocated, Democrats controlled the White House, the Senate and the House. And it was the Biden Administration that decided who got the money. I am sure they will find a way to blame it on Republicans.
Newsweek reported:
Robertson formerly served as an assistant city attorney and as a police officer for the City of Atlanta. She unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic candidate in a 2015 election for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, and also ran for a judge seat on the Fulton County Superior Court.
Prosecutors said Robertson schemed with Chandra Norton, her best friend and personal attorney, to receive as much in PPP loans as they could for their businesses. They said Robertson gave $400,000 of the funds she received to Norton and transferred $50,000 to her daughter, who has not been charged.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELRobertson blamed her companies’ fraudulent loan applications on Norton. Her lead attorney Craig A. Gillen said Norton was “financially desperate” and an “evil genius” who used Robertson’s personal and business information to enrich herself.
But prosecutor Bernita Malloy said Norton had submitted false loan applications at the direction of Robertson. Robertson’s defense “defies logic and is absolutely ludicrous,” Malloy said.
Federal prosecutor Ariel Glaser said Robertson had threatened to kill Norton when she was arrested and separately threatened another person who filed a police report. Gillen said those comments were made in frustration.
BREAKING: Democrat attorney who once ran for judge convicted in $7 million COVID relief fraud case.
Shelitha Robertson, an attorney who once ran as a Democrat to become a superior court judge, was found guilty by a federal jury in the Northern District of Georgia for… pic.twitter.com/30uwkjeyQZ
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) December 22, 2023
These false statements were pivotal in swindling the PPP loans that she would later utilize to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a Rolls-Royce and a 10-carat diamond ring for $148,000, as well as significant money transfers to her relatives and accomplice.
The conviction followed carefully laid counts: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud itself, and finally, one count of money laundering. With each wire fraud and conspiracy count carrying a possible 20-year imprisonment sentence and the money laundering count up to 10 years, Robertson’s future now hangs in the balance, with sentencing set for April 11, 2024.
What makes Robertson’s case notable is that it is a part of a broader $15 million PPP fraud conspiracy for which her co-conspirator has already pleaded guilty.
