The Kelli Prather Saga

If you’ve been following local politics for the past few years, you’ve probably heard of perennial candidate Kelli Prather. She’s run for lots of different positions in the past several years. Prather has run for the US Senate, Cincinnati City Council, Hamilton County Commissioner and attempted to run for Mayor of Cincinnati but never obtained enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot. The debacle of invalid signatures this go-around really left a bad taste in my mouth because Prather continuously disparaged the Hamilton County Board of Elections and threw temper tantrums all over town about how there was some secret agenda to keep her off the ballot. I ran for office in 2018 and worked with the Hamilton County Board of Elections like all candidates do when they seek public office. The Hamilton County Board of Elections is an institution of integrity and helpfulness. They provide candidates with quite a bit of support and guidance when a person runs for public office and to imply otherwise is an insult to our intelligence. The Board of Elections is literally staffed with both Republicans and Democrats who are all professionals and their only agenda is fairness. The employees of the BoE have to ensure candidates are following rules and everything is above board. We as Democrats were extremely unhappy when Trump claimed the results of the 2020 election were rigged. Trump’s argument of election fraud is a direct attack on the bipartisan Board of Elections all across this country. It’s time to hold so-called “Democrats” accountable who make similarly outlandish accusations and statements. 

The newest fiasco surrounding Prather is that she’s done something much worse than bad-mouthing our local Board of Elections, allegedly of course. The FBI has charged Prather with 5 counts in federal court connected to a COVID-19 fraud case. In summary, Prather has been charged with making false statements to a federal agency, aggravated identify theft, bank fraud, unauthorized disclosure of a social security number and making false statements in loan and credit applications. As most people know, when the Feds come knocking at your door you’re most likely going to be spending some time in the slammer. The FBI alleges Prather opened up six separate bank accounts at 5/3 Bank and then attempted to apply for PPP loans totaling up to $616,389. If you recall, the PPP Loans were a part of the original COVID-19 stimulus relief bill and it was meant to help businesses who were negatively impacted by the pandemic. These payments were called “loans” but were more similar to grants; the government would end up paying the “loan” off for the businesses that sought them out. In short, the FBI alleges Prather opened up bank accounts that were associated with businesses that were not operational. 5/3 Bank ended up giving her around $20,000 but suspected that money may have also been distributed to a non-operational business. 

What would FBI special agent Dana Scully think about Kelli Prather’s alleged fraud?

Luckily for the taxpayers and citizens of our state, county and city, Prather has never come close to winning elected office. She also has never been endorsed by any major political party here in Hamilton County which is a major relief. I feel sorry that she’s facing federal prison time, but what the FBI alleges is textbook fraud. Attempting to swindle the US taxpayer out of over $600,000 for non-operational businesses in her private life makes you wonder what Prather would’ve done had she actually obtained a public office. It really gives me pause when you consider the fact that our city has struggled with corruption at City Hall as well as the fact that over 85 people have proclaimed they’re running for City Council. As a voter and taxpayer, we really need to do our due diligence on the motives behind some of these candidates. It’s no secret that many politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, seek out public office for self-enrichment and many have been successful in doing so. From my experiences, if you meet a candidate and something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Authentic messaging and a history of fighting for others is the framework in which I judge most political candidates. Obviously, I’ve not always used this framework and have previously been caught up in the celebrity of certain political candidates. I can also admit there are times that I play politics just like the rest of those engaged in the politics of this city and it’s led me to question myself. I sometimes have to take a step back and ask myself what do I really want out of all this involvement with politics? It’s hard to answer that question, but I think what I really want is to steer the politics of this city in a more progressive direction while at the same time attempting to combat corruption in whatever way I can. So in closing, individuals that engage in politics for self-enrichment and cook up shady schemes to scam the taxpayer deserve all the bad things that happen to them. I just wish the Feds would start locking up more of the rich old white men that roam the halls of the Ohio Statehouse, because that’s where the real corruption lies. To read the actual FBI complaint, you can click here. Until next time...