The City of Atlanta’s former chief financial officer (CFO) was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution amounting to $177,197.48 and a fine of $10,000 for abusing his position to steal public money and obstruct the IRS.
According to court documents, from 2011 to 2018, Jimmie Anthony “Jim” Beard, 60, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, oversaw the City of Atlanta’s Department of Finance. His primary responsibility was managing the city’s financial condition. At least as early as 2015, Beard devised and executed a scheme using his authority as CFO to obtain money and property from Atlanta for personal use. This included paying for thousands of dollars in personal travel expenses for himself, his family, and his travel companions, as well as buying and possessing restricted machine guns.
Further, while CFO, Beard submitted years of fraudulent tax returns in which he claimed personal business expenses to lower what he owed in taxes. During a 2015 audit of one such return, Beard lied to the IRS and obstructed auditors by submitting receipts for transactions actually paid by the City of Atlanta in connection with Beard’s official duties. The investigation later revealed that Beard had no personal business and that years of tax deductions were based on falsehoods.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri; U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia; Executive Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch; Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley of the FBI Atlanta Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Atlanta Field Office; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alicia D. Jones of ATF Atlanta Field Division made the announcement.
The FBI, IRS-CI, and ATF investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Trevor Wilmot of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Garrett Bradford, Tiffany Johnson, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Davis for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.