Alexandria woman embezzled more than $840,000 while working as campaign treasurer, authorities say

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) — An Alexandria woman pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds while serving as a treasurer for candidates running for political office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) said 59-year-old Katherine Margaret Buchanan was a political campaign compliance consultant for more than two decades, working for various campaigns and political action committees (PACs).

She usually held the title of “Treasurer” while in these roles.

From 2020 through 2024, Buchanan used the access she had as treasurer to take campaign funds from her clients for her own personal use.

The USAO detailed that she used these funds to pay off her personal credit cards or transfer funds to her bank accounts. At times, she also reportedly used official campaign or PAC credit cards to make personal purchases.

Embezzled funds paid for her dining, landscaping, aesthetic services, a Peloton exercise bike, clothes, flights to Italy, concert tickets, yacht tours, legal fees and more.

In all, she misappropriated over $840,006.

Buchanan also under-reported her income from 2017 through 2022 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to avoid paying taxes, the USAO added. This resulted in $671,200 in unpaid federal taxes.

She pleaded guilty on June 23 to embezzling campaign contributions from three federal candidates for political offices and committing tax evasion. She faces up to five years in prison for each charge.

Buchanan’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.