Former state worker charged with trying to steal $60,000

JEFFERSON, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia state employee has been indicted on charges that she tried to steal $60,000 from two women.

A Jackson County grand jury on Monday indicted Marquetta Curry on one count of exploitation of an older person, one count of forgery and one count of identity fraud.

The indictment says that while working for the state Division of Family and Children Services, Curry instructed Reba Holmes to give Curry a $30,000 blank check.

The indictment states Curry also tried to cash another $30,000 check from a second victim, Brenda Snelling, telling a bank she was Snelling’s grand niece.

The exploitation charge carries a potential prison sentence of one to 20 years, while the forgery and identity fraud charges carry potential prison sentences of one to 10 years.

The charges were brought by Attorney General Chris Carr’s Medicaid Fraud Division.

Curry, 32, had been employed by the state since January 2017. It’s unclear if she has a lawyer to speak for her. She had not been booked into the Jackson County jail as of Friday.

Kylie Winton, a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services, said the department fired Curry, who had been an administrative support worker.

Winton said that the department’s inspector general found Curry had tried “to commit financial fraud against an elderly customer” after an investigation. She said the department has stepped up the use of technology to monitor employee activities.