Va. campaign finance worker pleads guilty to embezzling $840K in campaign funds

An Alexandria woman plead guilty on Monday to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaigns of congressional candidates that prosecutors said she used for personal expenses, including foreign travel and chartered yacht tours.

Katherine Buchanan, 59, had worked as a political campaign finance consultant for more than 20 years, according to a release from the U.S. Justice Department.

From 2020 to 2024, prosecutors say she used access she had as a treasurer to embezzle funds from her clients.

She was accused of misappropriating more than $840,000 from various campaign committees and PACs. She pled guilty to embezzling campaign contributions from three federal candidates and committing tax evasion, according to the Justice Department.

The money was used for personal expenses including airline tickets to Italy, concert tickets and suites, yacht tours, dining, landscaping, aesthetic services and clothing, the Justice Department said.

She also pleaded guilty to under-reporting her income to the IRS, to avoid paying $671,000 taxes on the funds.

The Justice Department release did not name who she worked for, but Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner previously told the Rolling Stone that Buchanan was fired soon after federal authorities alerted them to possible federal wrongdoing related to work she did for their campaign fundraising.

Buchanan is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8 and faces up to five years in prison on each charge.

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