Woman accused of stealing more than $250K meant for Fort Pitt Block House

PITTSBURGH — A local woman is facing charges after detectives with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office say she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a local organization.

The money allegedly stolen is supposed to fund the upkeep of the Fort Pitt Block House. The property is preserved by the Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County.

The group was established in 1892 to accept the donation of the Block House from its previous owner. It spends about $40,000 a year.

In January, the group was notified that if they continued to spend at their current pace, all the money the organization had saved, about $500,000, would be gone by the end of the year.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, starting in 2019, former treasurer and president of the Fort Pitt Society Rebecca Stein wrote more than 100 checks from the organization to herself, totaling about $315,000. Of that money, more than $277,000 was found to be illegitimate.

According to a criminal complaint, the money was used to pay off credit accounts at a number of businesses including Macy’s, Nordstroms, Best Buy and Amazon.

Channel 11 spoke to Stein Thursday evening. She had no comment.

Stein is facing multiple charges including theft.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4.

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