Ex-DeKalb County Employee Charged With Bribery And Blackmail

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — A former supervisor in DeKalb County’s Tax Commissioner’s Office is being charged with bribery and blackmail. Gerald D. Harris is accused of accepting $30,000 in bribe payments from customers to unlawfully register vehicles, according to the FBI.

Harris is also accused of then trying to blackmail one of the bribe payers by threatening to tell the FBI.

“Harris traded his integrity for money and betrayed the trust of the citizens of DeKalb County by allegedly accepting bribe payments,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak in a news release. “Then, in an audacious display of bravado, Harris attempted to blackmail one of those bribe payers.”

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said these actions by a public official will not be tolerated.

“Gerald Harris not only abused his position of public trust for his own gain, but also attempted to extort another involved in the scheme,” Boston said.

According to Pak, from July 2017 to November 2019, Harris served as the Supervisor of Tax Tag Clerks for the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. In that position, he oversaw the Tax Commissioner’s North Office’s clerks who processed motor vehicle registrations and renewals for customers.

Harris is accused of accepting bribe payments from mid-2018 to November 2019, from customers to unlawfully register vehicles or renew vehicle registrations. Bribe payments:

• To register vehicles to individuals who did not have Georgia driver’s licenses or identification cards as required, typically in exchange for $200 per vehicle;
• To register vehicles that did not have the required accompanying documentation (such as: titles or Forms MV-1 title/tag application), typically in exchange for $500 to $1,000 per vehicle; and
• To renew vehicles that had not passed emissions tests by falsely entering that the vehicles had emissions exemptions, typically in exchange for $100 per vehicle.

On November 18, 2019, DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office fired Harris for accepting bribe payments. On the same date, Harris admitted to the FBI that he had accepted more than $30,000 in bribe payments in exchange for illegally registering and renewing vehicles for several people, including a person.

The FBI, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, Georgia Department of Revenue, and DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office are investigating this case.