Firm tied to Stacey Abrams dumped liabilities on US taxpayers, and she cleaned up financially
May 6, 2022
ATLANTA, GA- Crying about voter suppression is a pretty good business if you can make it work. For Stacey Abrams (D-GA), who still has not conceded the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, it has paid of handsomely…literally.
According to Conservative Playlist, her net worth has exploded by over 2,800% in just three years. That windfall has come courtesy of a company called Now Corp, previously referred to as NowAccount or “Now,” according to a Government Accountability Institute (GAI) study.
For example, way back in 2018, Abrams had a reported net worth of around $109,000 according to her financial disclosures filed ahead of her failed 2018 Georgia election.
Now reports are that as she heads into the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race, her campaign filings show her net worth is now a cool $3.17 million, give or take. That includes some $6 million in book advances, speaking deals and growing corporate investments such as NowAccount. It’s unknown if she makes any money to hock Jenny Craig or WW.
Abrams founded NowAccount, a financial technology startup in 2010 with two business partners, Laura Hodgson and John Hayes. Sources show the business started off rather slowly, however NowAccount was able to pony up $80,000 in salary for Abrams in the first year as senior vice president and $60,000 per annum in subsequent years.
According to sources, Abrams’ company saw income of only $100,000 in annual revenue, but courtesy of a federal small business loan program overseen by the state of Georgia, the company soon realized the ability to hand out nearly $10 million in taxpayer funds to its network of applicants.
By 2016 however, NowAccount’s applicants were defaulting on their loans and taxpayers were left on the hook for over $1.5 million in bad loans.
Fast forward to 2018, the year Abrams lost her bid for governor, she was paid $300,000, a stunning increase, according to financial disclosures.
In 2021, the company’s value spiked after a $29 million financing and investment deal her company made with two private equity firms, Conservative Playlist said. Just weeks after the $29 million windfall, Abrams announced her 2022 bid for governor.
Abrams served as the minority leader of the Georgia House from 2011 until she resigned in 2018 ahead of her run for governor. Her receipt of federally backed state contracts as she held high-level positions in the Georgia state legislature raised a number of questions, and Abrams was sharply criticized for the apparent conflict of interest.
At the time, Abrams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she “played no role in securing the state contracts” for NowAccount and claimed she “scrupulously avoided conflicts of interest,” the outlet reported in 2018.
It was Abrams’ idea to apply for taxpayer funding under the 2010 Jobs Act.
“I read the Jobs Act,” Abrams said. “I brought the provision to” NowAccount’s cofounders. Abrams knew that her role as minority leader of the Georgia House could pose a conflict, ,so she claimed to have “talked about it” with the company’s cofounders and said, “Here’s what we can to,” however allegedly claimed that she “did not want there to be any conflict at all.”
Georgia of course was the scene of a bit of election night shenanigans in 2020, and one of the firms associated with Abrams’ company, Happy Faces Personnel Group, Inc. apparently was up to their eyeballs in it. That company was the election night staffing firm hired to scan and count ballots in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, on election night, November 3, 2020.
A 29-page witness report by election observer Carter Jones claims that Happy Faces “presided over a massive chain of custody problem” when absentee ballots tarted to come “in rolling bins 2k at a time” rather than “in numbered, sealed boxes to protect [the ballots].”
That observer, Carter Jones was hired by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office to report on any irregularities relative to voting or counting ballots. He said he was stunned when he found out that one employee of Happy Faces said his election night intention was to “f-ck sh-t up.”
While Happy Faces has denied engaging in any type of financial relationship with NowAccount, financial records indicate otherwise, showing that NowAccount was listed as a “secured party” for Happy Faces.
Sources indicate that the Jobs Program was facilitated under the auspices of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). According to a spokesman for DCA, there were public hearings and the agency allegedly sought input from professionals “who could help deploy the federal funds to small businesses.”
“At no time did Stacey Abrams participate in any meetings or discussions with DCA about NowAccount,” according to DCA. That aside, NowAccount was ostensibly the only private lender that “showed interest,” with the company being specifically named in the Georgia application for U.S. Treasury Department funds.
While the state of Georgia ultimately received $48 million in funds from the federal program, including $10 million for credit guarantees, NowAccount’s network of applicants received $9.1 billion, or 90% of those funds.
However by 2016, the DCA was apparently growing tired of the NowAccount contract, which held the DCA to a five-day approval window whereby after five days the loans would be approved. During a meeting with Abrams’ and Hodgson’s cofounder John Hayes, the DCA’s deputy director complained about the growing backlog of applications from NowAccount’s clients.
“While our backlog is unacceptable, it is still necessary that we approve the loans they make,” the DCA deputy wrote in an email. He noted that Hayes “sees things differently and acts entitled to these funds, which may play an important role in the business model.”
The DCA deputy noted that Hayes “advanced several challenging points of view, as well as threats to engage the legislature, his high-profile board, and his attorneys.”
Moreover, the DCA deputy actually used Abrams’ name as a means of issuing a warning to his colleagues about the NowAccount “headache,” warning that they “should be aware that Stacey Abrams is a co-founder and SVP in the company.”
While NowAccount appeared to have some political influence in Georgia, it has no such sway in other states which is why according to Abrams’ cofounder the company was “never successful in getting other states to adopt a Georgia-like program.”
Abrams’ company also apparently had bad judgment when it came to recommending companies for loans, according to public records and DCA emails. One company in fact hat multiple tax liens and an open court judgment.
“This loan is a classic example of files we received that are incomplete,” one DCA email says. “You can see that once the business owner was asked for proof of payment, he withdrew the loan.” The email continued that the DCA “spent valuable time with research and internal documentation on a loan that was obviously not eligible to begin with .”
With a tight timeline with which to approve or deny loans to NowAccount’s applicants, the DCA made a number of questionable loans to companies unable to pay them back, with taxpayers left holding the bag. In sum, the total losses suffered by Abrams’ NowAccount network surpassed $1.5 million.
Once word got out that taxpayers had bailed out NowAccount’s clients, Abrams claimed that she had allegedly “walled myself off” from NowAccount’s operations.
In another “odd” twist, Abrams’ name mysteriously disappeared from the “About Us” tab on NowAccount’s website, which describes the beginnings of the company, where she had previously been listed as Senior Vice President. Her name was removed sometime before June 20, 2016.
However the GAI investigation found that despite claiming she “wall[ed herself] off,” Abrams in fact was intimately involved in the scheme to use the federal program to benefit NOW (which Abrams previously admitted).
Prior to her doomed run for Georgia governor in 2018, Abrams had a small retirement account of under $5,000 and a load of IRS debt, student loans and credit card debt. In a miracle, Abrams has now paid off all her debts, accumulated a retirement nest egg of more than $725,000 in stocks and bonds, and more than $3 million in personal net worth.
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/firm-tied...nancially/
May 6, 2022
ATLANTA, GA- Crying about voter suppression is a pretty good business if you can make it work. For Stacey Abrams (D-GA), who still has not conceded the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, it has paid of handsomely…literally.
According to Conservative Playlist, her net worth has exploded by over 2,800% in just three years. That windfall has come courtesy of a company called Now Corp, previously referred to as NowAccount or “Now,” according to a Government Accountability Institute (GAI) study.
For example, way back in 2018, Abrams had a reported net worth of around $109,000 according to her financial disclosures filed ahead of her failed 2018 Georgia election.
Now reports are that as she heads into the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race, her campaign filings show her net worth is now a cool $3.17 million, give or take. That includes some $6 million in book advances, speaking deals and growing corporate investments such as NowAccount. It’s unknown if she makes any money to hock Jenny Craig or WW.
Abrams founded NowAccount, a financial technology startup in 2010 with two business partners, Laura Hodgson and John Hayes. Sources show the business started off rather slowly, however NowAccount was able to pony up $80,000 in salary for Abrams in the first year as senior vice president and $60,000 per annum in subsequent years.
According to sources, Abrams’ company saw income of only $100,000 in annual revenue, but courtesy of a federal small business loan program overseen by the state of Georgia, the company soon realized the ability to hand out nearly $10 million in taxpayer funds to its network of applicants.
By 2016 however, NowAccount’s applicants were defaulting on their loans and taxpayers were left on the hook for over $1.5 million in bad loans.
Fast forward to 2018, the year Abrams lost her bid for governor, she was paid $300,000, a stunning increase, according to financial disclosures.
In 2021, the company’s value spiked after a $29 million financing and investment deal her company made with two private equity firms, Conservative Playlist said. Just weeks after the $29 million windfall, Abrams announced her 2022 bid for governor.
Abrams served as the minority leader of the Georgia House from 2011 until she resigned in 2018 ahead of her run for governor. Her receipt of federally backed state contracts as she held high-level positions in the Georgia state legislature raised a number of questions, and Abrams was sharply criticized for the apparent conflict of interest.
At the time, Abrams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she “played no role in securing the state contracts” for NowAccount and claimed she “scrupulously avoided conflicts of interest,” the outlet reported in 2018.
It was Abrams’ idea to apply for taxpayer funding under the 2010 Jobs Act.
“I read the Jobs Act,” Abrams said. “I brought the provision to” NowAccount’s cofounders. Abrams knew that her role as minority leader of the Georgia House could pose a conflict, ,so she claimed to have “talked about it” with the company’s cofounders and said, “Here’s what we can to,” however allegedly claimed that she “did not want there to be any conflict at all.”
Georgia of course was the scene of a bit of election night shenanigans in 2020, and one of the firms associated with Abrams’ company, Happy Faces Personnel Group, Inc. apparently was up to their eyeballs in it. That company was the election night staffing firm hired to scan and count ballots in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, on election night, November 3, 2020.
A 29-page witness report by election observer Carter Jones claims that Happy Faces “presided over a massive chain of custody problem” when absentee ballots tarted to come “in rolling bins 2k at a time” rather than “in numbered, sealed boxes to protect [the ballots].”
That observer, Carter Jones was hired by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office to report on any irregularities relative to voting or counting ballots. He said he was stunned when he found out that one employee of Happy Faces said his election night intention was to “f-ck sh-t up.”
While Happy Faces has denied engaging in any type of financial relationship with NowAccount, financial records indicate otherwise, showing that NowAccount was listed as a “secured party” for Happy Faces.
Sources indicate that the Jobs Program was facilitated under the auspices of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). According to a spokesman for DCA, there were public hearings and the agency allegedly sought input from professionals “who could help deploy the federal funds to small businesses.”
“At no time did Stacey Abrams participate in any meetings or discussions with DCA about NowAccount,” according to DCA. That aside, NowAccount was ostensibly the only private lender that “showed interest,” with the company being specifically named in the Georgia application for U.S. Treasury Department funds.
While the state of Georgia ultimately received $48 million in funds from the federal program, including $10 million for credit guarantees, NowAccount’s network of applicants received $9.1 billion, or 90% of those funds.
However by 2016, the DCA was apparently growing tired of the NowAccount contract, which held the DCA to a five-day approval window whereby after five days the loans would be approved. During a meeting with Abrams’ and Hodgson’s cofounder John Hayes, the DCA’s deputy director complained about the growing backlog of applications from NowAccount’s clients.
“While our backlog is unacceptable, it is still necessary that we approve the loans they make,” the DCA deputy wrote in an email. He noted that Hayes “sees things differently and acts entitled to these funds, which may play an important role in the business model.”
The DCA deputy noted that Hayes “advanced several challenging points of view, as well as threats to engage the legislature, his high-profile board, and his attorneys.”
Moreover, the DCA deputy actually used Abrams’ name as a means of issuing a warning to his colleagues about the NowAccount “headache,” warning that they “should be aware that Stacey Abrams is a co-founder and SVP in the company.”
While NowAccount appeared to have some political influence in Georgia, it has no such sway in other states which is why according to Abrams’ cofounder the company was “never successful in getting other states to adopt a Georgia-like program.”
Abrams’ company also apparently had bad judgment when it came to recommending companies for loans, according to public records and DCA emails. One company in fact hat multiple tax liens and an open court judgment.
“This loan is a classic example of files we received that are incomplete,” one DCA email says. “You can see that once the business owner was asked for proof of payment, he withdrew the loan.” The email continued that the DCA “spent valuable time with research and internal documentation on a loan that was obviously not eligible to begin with .”
With a tight timeline with which to approve or deny loans to NowAccount’s applicants, the DCA made a number of questionable loans to companies unable to pay them back, with taxpayers left holding the bag. In sum, the total losses suffered by Abrams’ NowAccount network surpassed $1.5 million.
Once word got out that taxpayers had bailed out NowAccount’s clients, Abrams claimed that she had allegedly “walled myself off” from NowAccount’s operations.
In another “odd” twist, Abrams’ name mysteriously disappeared from the “About Us” tab on NowAccount’s website, which describes the beginnings of the company, where she had previously been listed as Senior Vice President. Her name was removed sometime before June 20, 2016.
However the GAI investigation found that despite claiming she “wall[ed herself] off,” Abrams in fact was intimately involved in the scheme to use the federal program to benefit NOW (which Abrams previously admitted).
Prior to her doomed run for Georgia governor in 2018, Abrams had a small retirement account of under $5,000 and a load of IRS debt, student loans and credit card debt. In a miracle, Abrams has now paid off all her debts, accumulated a retirement nest egg of more than $725,000 in stocks and bonds, and more than $3 million in personal net worth.
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/firm-tied...nancially/
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