State Representative Tyrone Brooks Indicted for Misappropriating Nearly $1 Million

State Representative Tyrone Brooks of House District 55, which covers a sliver of midtown Atlanta near Ansley Mall and stretches down to a larger portion of southwest Atlanta, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.

According to a CBS Atlanta report, "Brooks, 67, of Atlanta, was charged by a federal grand jury in a 30-count indictment that includes charges of mail, wire and tax fraud."

Federal authorities have said that they believe Brooks misappropriated nearly $1 million from his Universal Humanities charity, which he founded in 1990, along with another organization that he founded, the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

The AJC says that, "U.S. Attorney Sally Yates told reporters Thursday that Brooks used contributions from Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and others to pay for home repairs, dry cleaning, entertainment, life insurance and other personal uses."

Special Agent in Charge, Mark F. Giuliano, spoke to reporters at the FBI Atlanta Field Office on Thursday and stated:

Mr. Brooks exploited two charitable organizations for his own personal financial gain which came at the expense of the intended beneficiaries of the charitable donations. IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to investigating individuals who use charitable organizations for their personal gain.

Mr. Brooks defrauded not only the donors but also the American taxpayer by evading his tax obligations. Tax compliance should and must be equally shared among all Americans.

In February of this year, Brook's told reporters he was innocent of the claims.  Now Rep. Brooks will be formerly arraigned on a date to be determined.

Fox 5 has created an extensive briefing of the indictment at the end of their article, recounting what the indictment alleges specifically.