by Andrea Watson
The City of Atlanta’s former Chief Financial Officer, Jimmie “Jim” A. Beard, has been charged in an eight-count federal indictment
Former Atlanta chief financial officer Jim Beard faces charges that include wire fraud, theft from the government, possession of machine guns and more. A federal grand jury indicted Beard Wednesday.
His charges also include making a false statement and obstructing federal tax laws.
“Jim Beard allegedly abused his position as one of the most powerful executives in the City of Atlanta to commit federal crimes for his own gain, including stealing tens of thousands of dollars of the public’s money, possessing machine guns that members of the public cannot have, and obstructing an IRS audit,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.
Since January 2017, nearly a dozen people connected to Atlanta’s city hall have faced criminal charges, reported WSB.
Beard served as CFO from Nov. 2011 to May 2018.
The U.S. Attorney’s office states Beard “devised and executed a scheme to defraud to obtain money and property from the city of Atlanta for private use.”
The indictment stated that Beard did the following:
Beard’s City of Atlanta credit card was used to pay more than $3,800 for hotel rooms at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Chicago for use by Beard’s step-daughter while attending the Lollapalooza Music Festival in 2015 and 2016, though Beard was not even in Chicago.
Beard’s City of Atlanta credit card was used to pay more than $1,350 for a hotel room at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta, including $200 per night for an upgraded room, $70 for private dining, and $80 for rose-petal turndown service, even though: Beard lived in Atlanta; Beard’s wife flew from Florida to stay at the hotel with him; and Beard’s work calendar listed the notation “Do Not Schedule – PTO,” during one of the days that Beard and his wife stayed at the hotel.
Beard ordered two custom-built machine guns that he caused to be delivered to Atlanta City Hall, after which Beard illegally took possession of the machine guns for his personal use – even though it was illegal for the machine guns to be possessed by anyone other than law enforcement and military personnel.
Reprinted from The Patch
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