A scandal involving Tennessee cosmetology licenses has now grown, and a second former state employee has been implicated.
In fact, state regulators said that she even signed a statement admitting to her role in the scheme to sell fraudulent cosmetology licenses.
Two and a half years ago, NewsChannel 5 Investigates first exposed how dozens of immigrants had been able to buy licenses so they could work in salons. Now, we've learned of this former state employee who has admitted to helping others get licenses while she worked for the state's Cosmetology Board.
We found Barbara Hendrix sitting in a minivan in the driveway of her home in Antioch.
"You want to tell me what happened?" we asked her.
After a long pause, she replied, "No."
For years, Hendrix was the state's cosmetology inspector for Davidson County, responsible for inspecting all of the salons in Nashville. But last year, she suddenly resigned rather than, according to personnel records, be fired for gross misconduct by a state employee.
"How do you explain this?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Hendrix.
"I can't right now," she answered.
"Why can't you explain it?"
And to that, Hendrix responded, "Because I'm not sure what's happened."
Despite her denials though, state regulators say Hendrix did in fact sign a statement last year admitting that she did "willfully participate in the ... illegal sale of cosmetology and barber licenses" along with another former state employee who worked in the licensing office.
After NewsChannel 5 Investigates showed Hendrix a copy of this signed statement, we asked, "Are you denying this is true? Are you denying you signed this?"
Hendrix replied, "I have no knowledge of what you're talking about."
We then asked, "Are you Barbara Hendrix?"
"I am."
Her statement goes on to give the names of the people and salons who she said she had helped to buy licenses and, in the statement, she admitted being paid for it.
"But this is your signature and the state says you admitted to being involved in this fraudulent license scheme?" we stated to Hendrix as we pointed to that copy of her statement.
Her response: "I did not."
We found Ashraf Mikhaeil at his Ooh La La Salon in South Nashville, and he confirmed what was described in Hendrix's statement.
"Your wife got a fraudulent license?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Mikhaeil.
"Yeah, from Barbara, yes," he said. "She came over here and she told me she could get me a license," he continued.
"How much did you pay her for that?" we wanted to know.
"I pay her, I would say, a thousand dollars," Mikhaeil stated.
"How did you pay her?"
"I pay her cash," he recalled.
And Atef Boutros, owner of Hanna's Salon on Murfreesboro Road, also talked to us about Hendrix.
"Barbara, yes, I know Barbara," he told us.
Hendrix said in her statement to regulators that she got $2,000 out of a $4,000 payment by Boutros to help barber Ehab Azeez get a license. We found a license with Azeez's name hanging in Boutros' shop.
And we asked Boutros, "Did you pay her (Hendrix)?"
"No," he told us.
"She came and inspect the place, but she never helped me for anything," he explained further.
"So then why would she tell the state that she did?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Boutros.
"I don't know."
But, based on Hendrix's written admission and state regulators' own investigation, the state Cosmetology Board is now moving to revoke the licenses of Hanna's Salon and the Ooh La La Salon and their owners, as well as the Oasis Salon on Thompson Lane.
Hendrix had reportedly admitted that she had also helped the Oasis owner get a license.
The Board voted unanimously to fine Hendrix $34,000 for her role in the illegal license scheme, something she once owned up to and now isn't so willing to do.
"What's wrong with this statement?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Hendrix of the copy of her signed statement.
"I did not sign that. I did not admit to any of that," she insisted.
"Did any of this happen?" we inquired.
"No."
"What did happen?" we then asked.
Hendrix then stopped answering our questions and headed inside her house.
According to the state, there's no doubt about what happened and they insist Hendrix signed the statement. State regulators also said that they've got a new director of the Cosmetology Board and they've added checks and balances to keep this sort of inside job from happening again.
Now when Hendrix resigned, she was told she could face criminal charges.
The TBI told NewsChannel 5 Investigates they turned over the results of their investigation back in May, but the Davidson County District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office both declined to prosecute.
Neither, though, would tell us why.
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