Gucci Bags, Crypto and Vegas Vacations: COVID Relief Scams Land Public Employees in Legal Trouble

Rhea County’s longest serving executive is headed to federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $650,000 in government COVID relief funding and using the cash to buy cryptocurrency.

U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. on Thursday sentenced former Rhea County Executive George Thacker, 59, to 33 months in federal prison for wire fraud. Thacker served as county executive from 2010 until his arrest earlier this year.

Thacker admitted as part of a plea deal that he applied for COVID relief funds while serving as county executive and claimed that money would be used to pay employees and keep his hotel business afloat. It was a lie, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Wilson wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

“He exploited his private business and stole over $650,000 in public funds — funds that were designed to help businesses and workers suffering in the midst of a once-in-a-generation pandemic,” Wilson wrote. “He was stealing money from the same public he was elected to serve, and he was using his business as the vehicle by which to do it.”

Thacker used the COVID relief money to buy cryptocurrency and sink cash into a personal investment fund, according to court records.

“COVID-19 relief fraud is a serious crime,” said Trey Hamilton, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. “Mr. Thacker’s scheme to defraud exploited a relief program designed to ease the economic suffering of all American workers and businesses.”

Atchley is allowing Thacker to report to prison in December. He remains under pretrial supervision until then.

Thacker’s case is one of dozens being prosecuted across Tennessee in what the Department of Justice has called an “epic swindle” of COVID relief funding that has taken place since Congress began authorizing money to help businesses and citizens impacted by the 2020 pandemic.

Authorities believe as much as $80 billion of the $800 billion authorized for COVID relief was doled out to fraudsters in the U.S. and abroad and used to pay for luxury cars, mansions and pricey vacations.

Memphis IRS employees nabbed in fraud probe

The Justice Department this week announced the round-up of five Internal Revenue Service staffers in Memphis as part of its continuing COVID relief fraud investigation.

The five collectively stole nearly $500,000 in COVID relief funds and used the cash for vacations and luxury goods, court records state.

Brian Saulsberry, 46, was working as a risk analyst for the IRS in Memphis when he obtained $171,400 in COVID relief funds that he claimed were to benefit employees of a business he owned. There were no employees, court records stated, and Saulsberry instead used the money for “personal items and expenditures, including making payments on cars, including a Mercedes Benz automobile.”

So far, Saulsberry has pleaded innocent in the case, which is set for trial in December.

Courtney Quinshee Westmoreland, 38, was working as a “contact representative” for the IRS office in Memphis when she obtained $11,500 in COVID relief funds that she used to buy “manicures, food and wine, luxury home goods and clothing,” court records stated. She also collected more than $16,000 in COVID-related unemployment benefits while working at the IRS, court records showed.

She has struck a deal to plead guilty to wire fraud and is expected to enter her plea in November in U.S. District Court in Memphis.

Fatina Hewitt, 35, was working as a management and program assistant at the IRS in Memphis when she fraudulently obtained $28,900 in COVID relief money.

“Hewitt spent the loan funds on Gucci clothing a trip to Las Vegas,” court records stated.

She faces sentencing in U.S. District Court in Memphis in January.

Roderick DeMarco White II, 27, was employed by the IRS in Memphis as a customer service representative when he fraudulently collected $66,666 in COVID relief funds, which he used to buy “personal items, including a Gucci satchel.”

White faces sentencing in U.S. District Court in Memphis in December.

Tina Humes, 56, obtained $123,612 in COVID relief funds while working as lead management and program assistant for the IRS in Memphis. She “spent the funds on jewelry and trips to Las Vegas,” court records stated. She is set for sentencing in U.S. District Court in Memphis on Oct. 28.

“The IRS employees charged in these cases … abused the trust placed in them by the public,” Justice Department attorney Kenneth Polite Jr., said in a statement. “The (Justice Department) is committed to safeguarding that public trust and protecting pandemic relief programs for the American people.”

Kevin Ritz, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said the IRS employees acted “out of pure greed” and “abused their positions.”

“Our office will not hesitate to pursue and charge individuals who steal from our nation’s taxpayers,” Ritz said.

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