A Georgia attorney and former City of Atlanta police officer, Shelitha Robertson, 62, was handed a sentence of seven years and three months in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of approximately $15 million.
Robertson, along with co-conspirator Chandra Norton, orchestrated a plot to submit fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of businesses owned by each of them.
The applications included inflated employee numbers and payroll figures, along with falsified tax documentation, in order to secure larger loans than they were entitled to legitimately.
Robertson’s businesses received over $7 million in PPP funds, which she then misappropriated for personal expenses, including luxury purchases and transfers to family members and Norton.
Following a federal trial in December 2023, Robertson was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Norton had previously pleaded guilty to her involvement in the scheme in November 2020 and is awaiting sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by the SBA-OIG, FDIC-OIG, and TIGTA, with Trial Attorney Ariel Glasner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernita Malloy for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuting the case.
