Breaking down the spending found in the Erin Stewart report

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]And we're again just going through this.

[00:00:02]We have three binders full of receipts.

[00:00:05]That's how this report describes uh three binders full of Amazon, Costco, and other receipts. Uh we have team coverage of the spending investigation and how an audit works. Your chief investigative reporter Sam is joining us now in the studio to break down some of the spending found in the report. And there's a lot of it. Cara, there really is. Part of the reason the possible misuse of the card was not caught earlier is the annual municipal audit isn't designed to catch every improper charge. The report describes the audit as a broad year-end review of the city's financial statements, not a day-to-day compliance check of individual PECARD transactions. It says, quote, "The report says New Britain's annual audits were never meant to police every city credit card purchase, but it also says auditors warned the city as far back as 2019 about weak PECARD documentation and fraud risks, and investigators say the city failed to take corrective action."

[00:01:02]Let's break down some of the purchases.

[00:01:04]Page three of the report shows the city allegedly paid around $19,000 for private club costs. Quote, "City records show that during Miss Stewart's Hartford Club membership period, the city of New Britain paid the Hartford Club more than $19,000 for costs and dues associated with Miss Stewart's club membership."

[00:01:24]Stuart is accused of purchasing children's birthday party items on Amazon with her PC card and purchasing party related food items at Costco through Instacart utilizing her cityisssued credit card. Receipts showed that she used the card to purchase cat toys, gag gifts, lingerie, makeup, home decorations, items for a Peppa Pig birthday party, you see right there, and other parties, and more. She is also accused of purchasing children's birthday party items with on Amazon with her pec card, like we said. And because she was using Instacart, she was actually charging more than needed to be charged for those grocery items. We have the entire report up on our WFSB News app and WFSB.com. You can read it on our homepage. I'll keep digging into the report and have more ahead on Channel 3 Eyewitness News all day long.