Special agents from the State Auditor’s office arrested Undare Kidd and Trafonda Kidd for fraud charges.
Both Undare and Trafonda have been indicted for conspiracy and fraud by a local grand jury. The Auditor’s office presented a $49,653.52 demand letter upon their arrest.
The charges state that they allegedly submitted a false invoice for services not actually provided to Hinds County taxpayers. These arrests come after Toni Johnson, Sudie Jones-Teague, and Cedric Cornelius were each arrested for fraud, embezzlement, and bribery earlier this year.
Some of the money obtained by the Kidds came from $1.9 million in grants awarded to Hinds County by the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) which is a non-profit funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg.
In a report by the Wall Street Journal, the organization gave over $350 million to election offices across the country in the 2020 election.
“This case shows, once again, that there was allegedly fraudulent spending on the 2020 election in Hinds County. We will continue to work alongside prosecutors to ensure all our 2020 election spending cases are brought to a successful conclusion,” said Auditor White. “I am thankful to the investigators and prosecutors for their hard work.”
The defendants could face several years in prison and thousands in fines if convicted.
All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case will be prosecuted by the office of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens.
Both defendants will remain liable for the total amount of the demand in addition to criminal proceedings.
Sarah Ulmer
