Atlanta Inspector General Report Reveals ‘Pay To Play’ Scheme In Local Government

The former Atlanta employees are being accused of bribery and extortion in a 'pay to play' scheme.

The Atlanta Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report citing corruption in the Department of City Planning’s Light Commercial Division. Sheaner Magee, Shaniecia Tucker and Angela Epps are accused of soliciting bribes to expedite compliance permits. The women are former City of Atlanta Department of City Buildings Planning (OOB) employees.

According to OIG’s Oct. 3 report, the investigation began in March 2023 and was prompted by a tip from an OOB customer. After Magee reached out to a customer to request a $500 fee to expedite the application review process, the customer alerted another OOB employee. It was this employee that reached out to OIG.

The investigation revealed, “Magee contacted the OOB customer via her personal email account and personal cellular phone, actions that deviated from OOB permit technician protocols.”

Once the investigation into Magee began, the larger plot involving Tucker and Epps unfolded. From January 2022 to February 2023, OIG discovered, “Magee accepted at least five Zelle payments ranging from $75 to $450.’

Tucker and Epps were also found to have accepted Zelle payments from potential customers. The subject lines read “plans” or “expeditor.”

“Tucker accepted four payments from OOB customers, ranging from $200 to $1200, from November through April 2023. As was the case with Magee, all of the customers had active OOB applications on which Tucker was assisting near the time of payment,” the report states. The report continues, “Epps received five payments from an electrician, ranging from $50 to $200.”

The OIG interviewed current and former employees for information on the application process.

An unnamed employee says the switch from paper applications to electronic applications will cause confusion and create an easy-to-manage application process.

“The type of business that we’re in, and there’s so much fraud in this industry, and the only way to be able to mitigate it is to have it in a space where you can control it, and you can control it when it’s in your face. I can’t control you giving me somebody else’s signature through the internet, but you can’t sign for somebody else if you’re standing in front of me.”

The OIG has turned over its evidence to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. They allege Magee, Tucker, and Epps participated in both bribery and extortion.