ATLANTA - A Small Business Administration employee pleaded guilty to making false statements to the SBA in connection with applications for fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic loans.

What we know:

Federal prosecutors said 45-year-old Rena Barrett of Covington admitted to making the statements on loans worth more than $550,000.

Barrett began working for the SBA in 2020. In May 2021, she submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan application for $170,000. The SBA initially declined the loan, but Barrett admitted to approving it for herself in July 2021.

The SBA later discovered Barrett had also approved loans for relatives, in what prosecutors described as an abuse of power.

Officials said Barrett ultimately received about half of the $550,000 she sought. She resigned from the SBA

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