Former Atlanta CFO Will Go to Prison on Embezzling and Tax Evasion Charges

For much of this year, the world focused on the corruption in the Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney’s office, where DA Fani Willis hired cronies for various positions in the office and even appointed her boyfriend as a special counsel in her efforts to nail Donald Trump on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges. In another RICO case — Fani loves her some RICO — involving rappers and gang members, an attorney tipped a defendant off to warrants, and an investigator hit on a witness.

The spotlight on Willis and the craziness at the county level has been so bright that even locals have probably forgotten that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has been investigating corruption in the city of Atlanta during the Kasim Reed administration. You might remember Reed as the mayor who cruised through Atlanta in emergency lanes to do interviews as the city dealt with a paralyzing snowstorm a decade ago.

Atlanta’s Chief Financial Officer during the Reed administration is going to jail for falsifying tax records and embezzling money. Jim Beard served under Reed from 2011 to 2018, and he’s one of the top officials to go down in the probe of city corruption. A judge sentenced Beard to three years in prison, and he must pay a $10,000 fine and $177,197.48 in restitution.

“Jim Beard abused the trust and confidence placed in him by the people of the City of Atlanta when he decided to steal tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayers to support his lavish lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan in a press release.

Recommended: Mesha Mainor Discusses Her Quest for Justice and Accountability in Fulton County

“Beard repeatedly abused his position, broke the law he was sworn to uphold, and betrayed the trust of the people of Atlanta,” ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alicia D. Jones said in a press release. “This case demonstrates the partnerships of law enforcement to enforce the law and hold individuals accountable, regardless of their position or status.”

WSB Radio provided a sample of some of Beard’s antics:

• In the summers of 2015 and 2016, Beard charged nearly $4,000 to the City for weekend stays at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. However, Beard was not in Chicago those weekends and the hotel rooms were actually for his stepdaughter to attend the Lollapalooza music festival.
• In December 2015, Beard ordered two custom-built machine guns using a purchase order and a $2,641.90 check from the city, telling the manufacturer that the machine guns were for the exclusive use of the Atlanta Police Department (“APD”) – even though Beard took the guns to his own home and APD had no knowledge of them.
• In April 2016, Beard charged more than $2,600 to the City for airfare and hotels for two-weekend trips to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Beard had no city business in New Orleans during either trip and took his wife one of the weekends and a different personal companion the other.
• In June 2016, Beard charged $975.52 to the city for travel to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”). Even though Beard had the city pay for this travel, Beard asked the MSRB to reimburse him personally for these costs and submitted copies of his receipts to the MSRB. As a result, the MSRB issued a check to Beard, which he kept and deposited into his personal bank account.
• In April 2017, Beard charged more than $10,000 to the City for a four-day stay for him and his wife at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, in a deluxe suite with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

WSB says that at least six other Reed administration officials have pleaded guilty or been convicted. I found a few of them. In 2017, two city contractors pleaded guilty to bribery charges, leading Reed to fire the city’s procurement director, who received 27 months in prison himself. In 2019, Reed’s deputy chief of staff got a five-year prison sentence for bribery. Another Reed-era city official faced accusations of taking $2 million in bribes; she received a 14-year sentence in 2022.

Atlantans had enough of Reed, and he came in third in the Democratic primary in his bid for a third (non-consecutive) term in 2021. However, for some reason, Atlanta and Fulton County keep electing Democrats and putting up with corruption. When will they ever learn?