Catholic Charities employee with extensive criminal history charged with embezzlement

A diocesan spokesperson said Stewart had passed a background check when she was hired.

A Catholic Charities employee in Charlotte has been charged with embezzlement and money laundering after prosecutors say she used a business credit card for more than $13,000 in personal expenses.

Leah Stewart, age 46, was arrested in late April. She faces felony charges over the unauthorized credit card charges.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Charlotte said the incident shows that Catholic Charities’ current audit protocols are effective, as the alleged theft was discovered within a few months.

But a retired IRS investigator said the incident should prompt a review of the agency’s preventative controls and hiring practices. In particular, he noted that Stewart was hired to work with vulnerable populations despite having an extensive criminal history, involving violent crimes and the use of multiple different social security numbers and birth dates.

Catholic Charities of Charlotte. Credit: Google.

According to court documents, Stewart was hired in December 2024 as a disaster case management supervisor. She was in charge of supervising the intake process for disaster victims and identifying their financial needs.

Between April and June 2025, Stewart used her business credit card for personal expenses, including repairs to her Mercedes, hotel rooms, food, and phone bills, according to the affidavit in the case.

Court documents said that Stewart admitted to using the credit card to pay for her car repairs. This prompted an audit, which discovered a total of just over $13,000 in unauthorized purchases. She was fired on July 1, 2025, and police were notified.

Asked if Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Charlotte is planning to change any policies to prevent similar incidents in the future, a diocesan spokesperson said changes are not necessary.

“The employee passed the background check and our audit protocols worked, so no changes were necessary: The unauthorized charges were quickly detected and the employee was terminated. We are seeking restitution through the courts, after attempting unsuccessfully to work out a repayment plan,” she told The Pillar.

But retired IRS investigator Robert Warren said the situation poses serious questions about Catholic Charities’ internal controls.

Warren, who is an assistant professor of accounting at Radford University and an expert in theft and fraud in ecclesiastical contexts, told The Pillar that there are two types of internal controls used to mitigate risk: preventive controls and detection controls.

“It appears that [Catholic Charities’] detection controls worked, even though it took four months to do so. The fraud was detected fairly quickly,” he said.

But the situation shows that the agency’s preventative controls are lacking, he continued.

He pointed to court documents indicating that Stewart has a criminal record in North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, and Indiana, and that she has used numerous aliases, social security numbers, and birth dates.

“Defendant has been labeled a violent offender in Iowa for homidice (sic) / attempted homicide,” the document continued.

“Ms. Stewart was hired to provide services to a very vulnerable population,” Warren said.

“A person with this background should not be representing Catholic Charities or have authority over a vulnerable population.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Charlotte said Stewart, like all new employees, passed a screening process that included a national criminal background check. Neither the diocese nor Catholic Charities of Charlotte responded to questions from The Pillar about whether the background check had revealed Stewart’s criminal history.

While the diocese says Catholic Charities is not planning to make any changes to hiring processes as a result of the incident, Warren said the agency should re-evaluate its background check protocol, to make sure that it is adequate.

If Stewart’s background check did not uncover her criminal record, he said, Catholic Charities needs to look into a different background check protocol.

On the other hand, he said, if the agency was aware of Stewart’s criminal record, it should revisit its hiring criteria for people who will be working with vulnerable populations.

“Internal controls over the hiring process [are] critical for providing reasonable assurance that only qualified and ethical persons are onboarded,” Warren stressed.

He added that failing to address this issue could lead donors to lose confidence in Catholic Charities as an organization, and could potentially threaten federal funding.

“Dollars are fungible. Every dollar given to Catholic Charities is a dollar you can’t give to someone else,” he said.

He also noted that the case is not an isolated incident.

“I have started collecting data on frauds committed against various Catholic Charities nationwide,” he said. “My list currently includes 16 separate Catholic Charities, including an alleged scheme committed by four co-conspirators who [are] under federal indictment in Milwaukee.”