A woman is accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a west Charlotte charity.
Court records say Leah Stewart stole $13,000 from the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.
She worked with the charity as a disaster case management supervisor since December 2024.
Stewart is accused of using a company credit card to pay for personal expenses, including food, hotel rooms, phone bills, and repairs on her Mercedes, between April and June of 2025.
She was charged with money laundering, which is a felony.
Channel 9’s Ken Lemon showed the report to attorney Brent Ratchford. He is not working the case.
“A lot of questions people have is there any difference between taking money wrongfully from a charity versus a patron or a corporation,” he said. “There’s absolutely no difference. They are all treated the same, and they are all wrong.”
He said in similar cases, the defendant got probation, depending on their record
“They are allowed to take responsibility for their actions and make amends,” Ratchford said.
