An Atlanta woman is accused of committing government assistance fraud at a grocery store she operated in Clayton County.
Lashunda Lovelace, also known as “Tara Beasley,” was arraigned in federal court Wednesday on charges of defrauding the federal Women, Infants and Children program in Georgia, theft of public funds and identification document fraud.
Lovelace, who is in custody, was indicted last week and is scheduled to have a bond hearing Thursday afternoon.
“The WIC program is a critical program to meet the basic nutritional needs of women and children in poverty,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a news release. “This defendant subverted the purpose of the program to line her own pockets. We will aggressively pursue those who steal federal program funding.”
The state Department of Public Health administers the WIC program.
Prosecutors said the 36-year-old woman, who was ineligible to own a WIC store, changed her name to “Tara Beasley” and had someone else open ABC KIDZ grocery store in Riverdale in his name and apply for the store’s participation as a vendor in the WIC program. Her alleged accomplice was not identified. “Beasley” attended a WIC training program as the manager of the store.
According to the indictment, Lovelace operated the store from at least October 2010 until January 2012 and violated program rules by buying WIC vouchers from customers for about 30 cents on the dollar. She then allegedly redeemed the vouchers for a higher value from the government by filing fraudulent claims that the vouchers had been used by customers to buy approved food items. Lovelace also is accused of selling fake driver’s licenses and Social Security cards.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
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