Connecticut’s attorney general and commissioner of consumer protection opened an investigation Wednesday into former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart’s handling of charitable assets for the Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund, the latest blow to a politician whose career imploded last month.
At issue are two bank accounts with identical names related to a mayoral charity founded by her father continued by her: one administered by the Community Foundation of New Britain, which manages donor-adviser funds; the other a checking account over which the foundation has no control.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Attorney General William Tong and Bryan T. Cafferelli, the commissioner of consumer protection, issued subpoenas Wednesday to Stewart and M&T Bank and a letter of inquiry to the community foundation. All three inquiries focus on the mystery checking account.
Based on the subpoena directed at Stewart, the investigators are trying to determine if she controlled the checking account, where the money came from and how it was spent. In addition to demanding documents, the subpoena commands Stewart to answer questions under oath at a deposition.
Tong and Cafferelli have statutory responsibility for overseeing charities in Connecticut.
“It is our job to ensure charitable organizations adhere to all rules and regulations, and it is our priority to give donors confidence that when they give to charity, their contributions are used as intended,” they said in a statement. “This inquiry will follow the facts wherever they lead, without regard to politics or personalities.”
Neither Stewart nor her lawyer, Ray Hassett, could be reached for comment. Kaylah J. Milligan, the president and CEO of the community foundation, also could not be reached.
Amid questions about her use of a city credit card while mayor and her seeking a non-existent pension benefit, Stewart ended her campaign for governor on May 14, a day before the opening of a two-day Republican state convention in which she was favored to win the endorsement.
Her withdrawal came after the release of an investigative report that concluded her personal use of a city credit card as mayor of New Britain was a “repeated and deliberate circumvention of the city’s purchase order system to benefit herself, members of her family, and her political campaigns.”
The “great majority” of $207,076 in purchases charged to Stewart’s city-issued credit card over nearly a decade were unrelated to city business, and they warrant a criminal investigation, concluded the Crumbie Law Group, which was hired by her Democratic successor, Mayor Bobby Sanchez.
Stewart, who did not seek reelection as mayor in November to focus on her gubernatorial ambitions, also had applied for a nonexistent “deferred partial retirement pension” benefit shortly before leaving office after 12 years. The charter offers a pension equal to 50% of salary to elected officials after 20 years in office, but there is no partial benefit.
To the Community Foundation of New Britain, the attorney general’s office asks for answers to a broad range of questions, including an explanation of “the origination, nature, and charitable purpose of the Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund” and the process by which distributions are made.
It also asks the foundation to “describe the origination and purpose of Financial Account No. 2073320,” the checking account central to the inquiry. The two subpoenas to Stewart and M&T Bank also seek all records related to the account.
The subpoena to Stewart states she will be asked about the ownership and control of all accounts related to the charity, as well as how donations were solicited and spent.
The charity was founded by one of Stewart’s mayoral predecessors: her father, Tim Stewart. It began with charitable golf tournaments.
In a YouTube video recorded in 2022 and posted on Erin Stewart’s YouTube channel, the two Stewarts discussed the founding of the charity to benefit youth programs and its evolution to a broader charity.
“It’s really become this holistic approach,” Erin Stewart said. “It’s made a huge difference.”
Her father said he would like to see the charity continue and become one of the state’s largest benefactors of youth programs.
Another YouTube video posted in April promoted an upcoming golf tournament for the charity with a plea to “save the date.”
It has since been taken down.
