An Atlanta Housing Authority administrator who oversaw a subsidy program for low-income renters, known as Section 8, has been charged with fraudulently obtaining some of that money for herself while also securing thousands of dollars in federal emergency and disaster loans for a business she owned.
Tracy Denise Jones, 61, of Atlanta, pleaded not guilty to three federal charges alleging she defrauded the government in connection with the Section 8 and COVID-19 relief programs.
Jones’ lawyer could not be reached for comment. She was senior vice president of her agency’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia charged Jones on Dec. 19 in an alleged conspiracy that involved the mother of her two grandchildren.
The mother, identified by the initials M.D., lived in Jones’ Fayetteville property, her rent subsidized by Section 8, according to a criminal information filing by prosecutors in U.S. District Court.
As a Fayetteville resident, M.D. did not qualify for a subsidy from the agency, which calls itself Atlanta Housing, the filing said. But, it said, Jones and M.D. submitted documents claiming M.D. was an Atlantan relocating to Fayetteville for her safety as a victim of domestic violence.
The criminal charges said Jones collected more than $36,000 in Section 8 funding for the property over more than three years.
The Department of Justice said Atlanta Housing staff are “generally” prohibited from receiving Section 8 payments for their properties and that Section 8 landlords are “typically” prohibited from leasing to family.
The criminal information filing said Jones submitted affidavits to an Atlanta Housing internal investigation saying she had deeded the property to a business owned by someone else, but the charging documents said that person was “fake.”
The court filing also said Jones applied for and received about $27,000 in disaster relief and COVID-19 loans for that same business.
Despite her assertions in some documents that she did not own the Fayetteville property, Jones claimed it as hers when she applied for a new mortgage, the court document said.
Atlanta Housing is among the largest such agencies in the country, serving 43,000 people in 27,000 low-income households, according to the court filing.
As a Section 8 supervisor, Jones was entrusted with “vast sums” of money for Atlanta’s neediest residents, Theodore S. Hertzberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement.
“But Jones allegedly exploited a variety of assistance programs and chose to line her own pockets using an alternate identity, multiple business entities, a false affidavit, and a cadre of associates willing to lie on her behalf,” he said.
After her plea of not guilty, a federal magistrate judge released Jones on an unsecured $10,000 bond.
