(The Center Square) – Former Georgia Rep. Karen Bennett collected nearly $14,000 in unemployment claims related to the pandemic but failed to disclose $905 a week she received while working for a church, according to a federal indictment.
The Democrat from Stone Mountain also said she was unable to work at her company, which provided in-home physical therapy services, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment said she was working from home, supporting therapists providing services.
The $300 a week Bennett made as a member of the House of Representatives was the only money she claimed in her application, according to prosecutors.
Bennett was turned down for unemployment insurance in April 2020 but reapplied and was approved on May 7. She collected benefits through August, according to the indictment.
Her resignation from the Georgia House took effect on Jan. 1, four days before federal prosecutors released her indictment. She served in the House for 13 years.
Bennett is charged with one count of making false statements. She is the second Georgia lawmaker charged in connection with pandemic-related unemployment fraud.
Rep. Sharon Henderson, D-Covington, was charged in December with two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of making false statements, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
She first filed for federal pandemic unemployment benefits in June 2020 while she was campaigning for her House seat and said on the application she was employed by Henry County Schools, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors said Henderson lied on federal documents to collect $17,811 in unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
Henderson is still in office.
