Stonecrest Mayor Charged With Fraud, Accused Stealing Thousands From CARES Act

ATLANTA — Federal prosecutors say the mayor of Stonecrest skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars from COVID-19 relief funds intended to help the city and its residents and businesses through the pandemic.

Jason Lary on Wednesday was charged in federal court with wire fraud, conspiracy and federal program theft, according to court documents.

“Lary allegedly abused the power and trust conferred on him as Mayor of Stonecrest to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for COVID-19 relief,” Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in a statement. “Instead of providing aid to Stonecrest’s deserving citizens, Lary allegedly diverted funds for his own use, including to pay off his taxes and the mortgage on his lakefront home.”

DeKalb County received $125 million when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law in March 2020 as the pandemic escalated, closing businesses and schools and forcing many Americans to remain home. The County was allowed to distribute the funds to cities in its jurisdiction, including Stonecrest, which received $6.2 million.

The funds were intended to be used for medical expenses, public health expenses and as grants to small businesses to reimburse them for lost revenue during the pandemic. Lary signed a resolution in September acknowledging these terms and outlining a spending plan for the funds, according to federal prosecutors.

The city was to use $1 million to purchase personal protective equipment, provide COVID-19 testing and education, and other healthcare services, authorities said. This money was directed to churches and non-profits in and around Stonecrest. Another $5 million was allocated to the city’s Small Business Program.

But Stonecrest didn’t use the $6 million as planned, prosecutors said. Instead, the city hired Municipal Resource Partners Corporation, Inc., to disburse fund on the city’s behalf, and Lary worked behind the scenes to recruit the company’s CEO, Lania Boone, and open bank accounts before signing the contract with the firm, according to court records. Boone faces federal conspiracy charges.

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Lary told churches that they had to direct a portion of the funds they received to bogus charities, for example, directing one church to donate $50,000 of its $150,000 CARES funding to an organization called Real Estate Management Consultants, LLC, prosecutors said. While the funding was said to have gone to an organization assisting with home repairs for people unable to pay for them due to the pandemic, prosecutors said Lary used the money to pay off outstanding federal, state and local taxes.

In advertising the money to businesses on its website, the city Small Business Program asked whether businesses were willing to devote 25% of what they received to marketing. And he coerced the businesses that did receive funding to pay into the Stonecrest-related marketing and advertising by giving the money to one of two companies -- Visit Us and Battleground Media -- authorities said Lary controlled and used for his own personal spending.

Lary’s personal expenditures from the Small Business Program relief funds, which Boone helped him acquire, included $108,000 to pay off the mortgage on a lakefront home he owned, and $7,600 for college tuition and rent for Boone’s son, according to court records. Lary also paid for an associate’s political campaign marketing, prosecutors said.

“It is very troubling when an elected official, someone sworn to protect the community they serve, violates that oath by stealing relief funds intended to aid their community during a global pandemic,” FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker said. “The allegations against Lary and Boone indicate an abuse of a position of trust and blatant disrespect for the law, which will not be tolerated by the FBI.”