While fraud claims piled up, Yolanda Brown kept working and embezzling funds from the campaigns whose bank accounts she had access to.
Political consultant Yolanda Brown has fraud claims piling up against her in at least four states. Those she owes money to are not able to find her.
Brown, 46, is a Florida-based finance manager and campaign consultant who works primarily with Democrats and social justice groups. She has faced criminal charges for embezzlement and other allegations of financial fraud in at least four states. The charges total more than half a million dollars, according to analysis.
Chris Rabb, a Philadelphia congressional candidate, said Brown owes him money and was his former campaign treasurer. He said she made “unauthorized withdrawals” from his campaign account and the money had gone missing.
Before making those withdrawals, Brown was accused of stealing campaign donations from another Democrat in Florida.
Accusations against Brown include taking money from campaign accounts and setting up sham jobs and billing nonprofits for work that was never performed. Two years ago, she paid $330,000 after pleading no contest to felony embezzlement in California. Prosecutors said she stole from a nonprofit and set up a fake loan under the name of a consultancy where she worked previously.
As the charges and accusations piled against her, Brown kept working. She avoided jail time and used three different surnames to keep working on political campaigns across several states.
Florida-based criminal defense attorney Khambrel Davis is representing Brown. He said that Brown is the victim and that an employee of her firm stole from the PACs in Philadelphia and St. Petersburg. Davis said the employee then disappeared. He said Brown reached out to law enforcement but has not heard back.
“[Brown] just can’t locate her, and now it’s kind of all coming back on her. Her history is coming up, so everyone’s just assuming she must have done this. They’re kind of putting together this narrative that she’s just this habitual thief,” said Davis in a recent interview.
According to records, Brown is the only employee of her firm who ever filed campaign finance paperwork for the campaigns that are accusing her of theft.
A spokesperson for Rabb said the campaign had protocols in place to reconcile accounts and “immediately took action” after discovering the suspicious activity that took place while Brown had access to the account.
“The campaign’s former treasurer manipulated every campaign safeguard in place. It’s what these people do,” said the spokesperson.
By going by several names, Brown was able to be hired by campaigns that did not detect the criminal charges she was facing in other states during the hiring process.
Brown’s attorney maintains that “she’s just going to take responsibility and try to remedy the situation.”
Brown’s location is currently unknown, and the campaigns she is accused of stealing from are unable to reach her.
