On Friday, October 24, 2014, a Fulton County Grand Jury indicted Alice Adeusi, owner of Big Apple Child Daycare, Inc. (Big Apple), on four counts of False Statements (O.C.G.A. §16-10-20) .

Big Apple, located in Decatur, Ga., is part of the lottery-funded Georgia Bright from the Start (BFTS) Pre-K program. The BFTS program requires daycare centers to enter into an agreement that specifies how many classes the lottery will fund at the center, and certifying that each class has 22 students.

Following a complaint from a Big Apple Daycare teacher, an investigation revealed that for the 2011 – 2012 school year, Adeusi allegedly submitted falsified rosters to BFTS that listed some children who were not actually students at the daycare. The daycare received approximately $25,000 in reimbursements from the State of Georgia based on these false statements.

False Statements is punishable by one to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000.

Assistant Attorney General Laura Pfister is prosecuting the case on behalf of the State of Georgia. The case was investigated by Special Agent Deborah Loving of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.