Photo: Attorney Tony Farese (right) at a news conference Thursday explaining that former Horn Lake alderman Charlie Roberts had been unjustly charged with unemployment compensation fraud. (Courtesy photo)
Sep 12, 2024 – When investigators of State Auditor Shad White came to DeSoto County Wednesday and achieved a grand jury indictment against former Horn Lake alderman Charlie Roberts on unemployment compensation fraud charges, one important piece of information was apparently overlooked.
An attorney for Roberts Thursday charged that Roberts had already settled and repaid what he owed the state for the jobless overpayments received during COVID-19 two months earlier.
One day after White and District Attorney Matthew Barton, along with investigators, held a Hernando news conference to announce the indictment against Roberts, a three-term alderman before losing re-election to Dave Young in 2021, Roberts’ attorney Tony Farese held his own news conference in Hernando to present the new information.
“I can tell you that Charlie applied for unemployment benefits during COVID and did not list his employment as an alderman because he checked and thought it was part-time work,” Farese told DeSoto County News Thursday afternoon. “He subsequently was notified that he had been overpaid unemployment benefits and that he owed money. They subsequently garnished his wages.”
Roberts was unemployed at the time but he later started working for an automobile service center and garnishments from his pay were made.
The garnishments ended in July of this year when Roberts sold his home and about $16,000 that he still owed the state was repaid as part of the sale proceeds.
Farese has provided copies of the check used for Roberts to pay off the state, along with the closing statement on the home sale.
When Roberts was initially indicted Wednesday, he was jailed and was being held in the DeSoto County Adult Detention Center until about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night when he was released on bond. Roberts presented Farese the documentation that he had paid his obligations, information Farese has since passed on to investigators with both White’s office and Barton’s office.
Charlie Roberts (DeSoto County Jail photo)
Farese said it was disturbing that the state auditor came to DeSoto County to make a public presentation of the charges in a case Farese said was not fully investigated.
“Hopefully Mr. Barton will dismiss the indictment, we’ll have to wait and see,” Farese said. “But it’s troubling that a press conference is held by the State Auditor and by the District Attorney himself and statements are issued when you had an incomplete investigation and they were unaware that the obligation had been paid back.”
When reached by DeSoto County News for a comment, Barton said in a statement, “We will refer questions to the Mississippi Department of Employment Services.” An email has also been sent to Auditor Shad White’s office asking for comment.
UPDATE: An email sent from White’s office Communications Director Jacob Walters Friday morning said, “Any questions related to the debt paid by Mr. Roberts should be sent to the Mississippi Department of Employment Services.”
White has touted his department’s Operation Payback, started in May to investigate unemployment compensation fraud, that White said had found over $500 million in fraud reported in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roberts, in addition to his time on the Horn Lake Board of Aldermen, also ran for state Representative in District 40, a seat currently held by state Rep. Hester Jackson-McCray (D-Horn Lake). Roberts lost to Jacob Hisaw in the 2023 Republican primary for the seat and Jackson-McCray defeated Hisaw in the general election.
State Auditor Shad White at a news conference announcing an indictment against former Horn Lake alderman Charlie Roberts. (Bob Bakken/Mississippi News Group)
