Former state Rep. Karen Bennett, a Democrat from Stone Mountain, is facing a federal charge of making false statements, according to 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.
She is accused of collecting $13,940 after filing a false application for benefits with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program in May 2020, according to court documents.
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.
Court documents state 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...
Popular YouTuber and Twitch streamer Asmongold has strongly denied viral allegations calling him a pedophile after a misleading post spread rapidly on X (formerly Twitter). The streamer has now sa...