Georgia Businessman Pleads Guilty To Bribing Officials

By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square Georgia

April 21, 2023

(The Center Square) — A 72-year-old Alpharetta businessman pleaded guilty in federal court to bribing two Atlanta city officials in exchange for steering millions of dollars of city business to his company.

"Lohrasb "Jeff" Jafari, the PRAD Group’s former executive vice president, also pleaded guilty to bribing a former Dekalb County official to try and secure county contracts and evading more than $1.5 million in taxes," federal prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones is scheduled to sentence Jafari on July 19 after the businessman pleaded guilty to conspiratorial bribery, substantive bribery and tax evasion.

Georgia’s March unemployment rate remains steady

Georgia’s March unemployment rate was 3.1%, unchanged from the revised February rate.

"The Peach State’s unemployment rate has stood at 3.1% for eight consecutive months," according to a labor department news release. That is four-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.5%.

According to state officials, "in February, Georgia reported the southeast’s highest labor force participation rate at 61.1% and the region’s highest employment-to-population ratio, 59.2%."

"Jobs increased 0.2% over the month and 2.8% over the year to an all-time high," state officials said.

Kemp signs bill to preserve farmland

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 220, the "Georgia Farmland Conservation Act," establishing a mechanism to provide grants to holders of agricultural conservation easements.

"The creation of this programming will ensure that Georgia’s number one industry is supported for many years to come," state Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell, said in a statement. "Agriculture is vital to the economic development of our state, and this measure is a key step in a movement to enable Georgia farmers to voluntarily protect their farmland."

Officials said that farmland in Georgia has decreased from roughly 12.6 million acres in 1974 to about 9.9 million acres today.

The focus of the work of The Center Square Georgia is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.