Source: US FBI
ATLANTA – Rena Barrett, a former Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loan officer, pled guilty on August 11, 2025 to making false statements to the SBA in connection with applications for more than $550,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic loans.
“The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provided critical relief to small businesses and supported our economy during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said United States Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “It is intolerable that Barrett—who was entrusted to process loans for desperate small businesses—placed her personal greed ahead of doing her job honestly. With the help of our law enforcement partners, we are committed to rooting out and punishing government employees who betray the public’s trust.”
“Abusing authority to fraudulently obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds betrays the trust of small businesses relying on critical relief,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of SBA Office of the Inspector General’s Eastern Region. “OIG is committed to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring accountability for those who exploit vital programs for personal gain.”
“Government employees who exploit their positions for personal gain betray the public trust and undermine critical programs designed to help those in need,” said Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI remains steadfast in its commitment to working with our partners to hold accountable those who abuse their authority and harm the integrity of pandemic relief efforts.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: Rena Barrett, 45, of Covington, Ga., became an SBA employee in October 2020. In May 2021, she submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) application for $170,000. SBA initially declined to approve this loan, but in July 2021, Barrett approved the loan herself. SBA shortly thereafter discovered that Barrett had abused her position by approving that loan and other loans she or her relatives submitted. Barrett received nearly half of the approximately $550,000 she sought to obtain and resigned from the SBA after her wrongdoing was discovered.
In a related case, on April 15, 2025, Sheena Thompson, 49, of Conyers, Ga., pled guilty to a criminal information charging her with making false statements to the SBA. Thompson admitted to trying to obtain more than $150,000 in fraudulent EIDL loans. Barrett is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12, 2025, and Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on August 28, 2025.
Separately, on August 12, 2025, Detra Lewis, 40, of Atlanta, Ga., pled guilty to making false statements to the SBA. Lewis obtained more than $1.25 million after submitting a false Paycheck Protection Program loan application on behalf of God’s Anointed Youth Ministry. Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on November 14, 2025.
The case against Barrett and Thompson is being investigated by the United States Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations. The case against Lewis is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney Alex R. Sistla is prosecuting each case.
On May 17, 2021, the Department of Justice established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the Department’s resources in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6185. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.