Former KY housing authority exec director allegedly stole $43K as ‘raise, bonuses’
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- Former Stanford Housing Authority executive director indicted for stealing $43,001.18.
- Indictment alleges forged Jan. 16, 2024 minutes and 12 Chime transfers.
- Indicted on 13 wire fraud counts and one theft charge; arraigned March 2.
A former Stanford Housing Authority employee has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the organization.
Ashley Lear, the former executive director of the housing authority in Lincoln County, was indicted this month on 13 wire fraud charges and one theft of government funds charge in Eastern Kentucky District Federal Court. The indictment says she stole $43,001.18 from the housing authority between July 2023 and March 2025.
Lear allegedly forged the minutes of a Jan. 16, 2024, Stanford Housing Authority board meeting, falsely giving herself a raise and monthly and year-end bonuses, according to the indictment. She transferred “unauthorized bonuses and in excess of her contracted salary” from the authority’s checking account to a Chime account under her name.
The indictment lists 12 money transfers from the housing authority’s checking account to Lear’s Chime account. The transfers ranged from $1,800 to $10,000.
Prior to the Chime transfers, Lear used the authority’s credit card for a personal expense. The indictment lists one charge of $9.53 from Sun Tan City on the organization’s credit card March 6, 2024.
Calls to Lear’s attorney and the Stanford Housing Authority were not immediately returned.
Federal wire fraud charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while the theft of government funds charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, according to the indictment. Lear is scheduled to be arraigned at the federal courthouse in Frankfort March 2.
