A Richmond County Board of Education records manager in the School Safety Department has been arrested in connection with a property fraud case involving forged legal documents and a false property sale, authorities confirmed Thursday.
Joy Lewis, 43, of Augusta, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with forgery and filing false documents after investigators say she played a central role in a scheme to unlawfully transfer ownership of a home on Steiner Avenue. She has been placed on unpaid administrative leave from her job with the school system’s School Safety Department, according to Haley Lacuesta, RCBOE Communications Coordinator.
According to a police report, the incident came to light on July 18 when property owner Kawanna Haynes reported that a man named Orlando Jones had submitted a Quitclaim Deed to take ownership of her residence at 2023 Steiner Ave. Haynes said the deed, which listed her and her husband as the grantors, contained forged signatures. She told deputies that neither she nor her husband had sold the property or authorized any such transaction.
An investigation by Sgt. Ferguson revealed that the deed had been submitted to the Richmond County Clerk of Courts in November 2024 and briefly updated in county records to reflect Jones as the new owner. The record also included a note stating the sale had been flagged as fraudulent by the original owners. By Wednesday, the fraudulent transaction was removed from the official property sale history.
Deputies were first alerted to the situation on Monday, when they responded to a trespassing complaint at the Steiner Avenue home. There, they encountered Jones, who claimed to be the rightful owner and said he had purchased the property for $20,000 through multiple payments to a woman named Joy Lewis, whom he described as a friend.
When investigators followed up, Jones refused to provide documentation of the alleged purchase and declined to meet in person.
On Thursday, Sgt. Ferguson interviewed Lewis at the sheriff’s office, where she admitted to facilitating the transaction between Jones and a man named Joshua McDaniel, who she claimed had transferred the property to Jesse Haynes to avoid it being seized due to McDaniel’s pending criminal case. Lewis said she received an unspecified amount of cash and a $5,000 cashier’s check from Jones, which she then passed on to McDaniel’s mother.
Although Lewis admitted to assisting Jones in filing the Quitclaim Deed at the courthouse, she denied knowing the document was forged. However, she also acknowledged that she knew the person selling the home was not the legal owner and that she had never spoken with the property owner or her husband about selling the residence.
Lewis was booked Thursday and faces multiple felony charges. As of Friday morning, it was not clear if additional arrests would be made. Authorities say that Jones was interviewed and released.
