LEXINGTON, Ky. — A federal grand jury has indicted the executive director of the Stanford Housing Authority on 14 felony counts, accusing her of forging board documents, funneling tens of thousands of dollars in public money into her personal bank account and charging personal expenses to the agen cy’s credit card over a nearly two-year span. Ashley Nicole Lear faces 13 counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government funds, according to the indictment filed Feb. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. She is scheduled for an initial court appearance March 2 before Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins. The Stanford Housing Authority, based in Lincoln County, received more than $10,000 in federal grants, subsidies and other assistance between January 2024 and January 2025, making it subject to federal oversight of its funds, the indictment states. Prosecutors say the scheme ran from roughly July 1, 2023, through March 21, 2025. At the center of it was a set of forged minutes from a January 2024 board meeting. Lear fabricated the minutes to make it appear the board had approved an increase in her annual salary along with monthly and year-end bonuses, according to the indictment. No such vote took place. Armed with the bogus authorization, Lear then transferred money from the housing authority’s checking account to a personal Chime account in her own name, the indictment alleges. She also used the agency’s Visa credit card for personal purchases and paid those bills out of the housing authority’s checking account. The indictment details 13 separate wire transfers between March 2024 and February 2025. They ranged from a $9.53 charge on the agency credit card on March 6, 2024, to a $10,000 transfer on April 6, 2024. Other transfers sent $2,000, $3,000, $3,200 and $4,200 at a time to Lear’s Chime account. In all, the transfers listed in the indictment total more than $43,000. The wire fraud counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The theft of government funds count carries up to 10 years and the same maximum fine. The government is also seeking forfeiture of any proceeds traceable to the alleged crimes, along with a money judgment for the full amount obtained through the scheme. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Mattingly Williams. The indictment was signed by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul C. McCaffrey. The case has been assigned to Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove. An indictment is a formal accusation and does not constitute evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. The post Kentucky housing authority director indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly looting agency funds appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less