Former Atlanta Housing official sentenced for Section 8 and pandemic fraud

Jones, the former senior vice president of the city’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, wire fraud, and credit application fraud.

She also was sentenced to nine months of home detention and 15 months of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution and fines.

Atlanta Housing provides affordable housing resources to about 27,000 households and 43,000 residents. It administers federally funded Section 8 programs, including rental assistance payments, for low-income families.

Jones, 61, was put on leave last December and was no longer employed by Atlanta Housing as of earlier this year. Shannon Linsey currently oversees the city’s housing voucher program.

According to federal prosecutors, Jones obtained more than $36,000 in Section 8 funds through falsified documents to have her family members approved into the Section 8 program and then used her rental home property in Fayetteville to collect payments.

Jones also committed mortgage fraud when she refinanced her Section 8 rental property, claiming on a $219,780 loan application that it was her primary residence.

Jones also used her shell business and another business to collect more than $27,000 from the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 pandemic relief programs after falsely claiming the businesses were functioning with multiple employees, according to authorities.