Former Heinz Endowments employee embezzled nearly $1 million, lawsuit says

The Heinz Endowments said in a federal lawsuit Monday that their former senior technology advisor embezzled nearly $1 million from the organization over a seven-year period.

Charles A. Richardson, who was hired by Heinz Endowments in 2014, was responsible for all technological aspects of the organization’s operation, the lawsuit said, including developing and maintaining their servers and IT systems.

The 15-page complaint accuses Richardson, who also did consulting work for Heinz Family Office and the Heinz Family Foundation, of taking $960,000 between 2016 and 2023.

Then, once he realized he was under investigation late last year, the lawsuit said, Richardson attempted to destroy evidence by logging into the Heinz Endowments IT system without authorization.

In a statement issued Monday evening, the Heinz Endowments said no core financial or grantee record systems were impacted by the alleged fraud.

“We are deeply saddened that the actions of a former employee have caused us to file a federal lawsuit and to engage law enforcement,” the statement said. “The allegations centering on fraud in the legal complaint reflect conduct that is unimaginable for someone who had been a trusted colleague for many years. We are heartbroken and will now allow the legal process to run its course.”

Prior to his work with the Heinz organizations, Richardson served on the national campaign for John Kerry’s presidential run.

According to the lawsuit, Richardson began a paid leave of absence with Heinz Endowments in October.

In December, the organization initiated an investigation into the propriety of certain purchases Richardson made using funds from his employer, the complaint said.

On Dec. 19, at 11:21 a.m., the lawsuit continued, Heinz Endowments asked a third-party IT provider to disable Richardson’s administrative access to the system and take away his email access.

They also asked that a digital copy be made of his email inbox.

Then, about 80 minutes later, Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy informed Richardson an audit was being performed and he would not have access to the IT system while it was pending.

Less than two hours later, the lawsuit said, Richardson “improperly, surreptitiously and without authorization” accessed Heinz Endowments servers and IT systems.

He remained in the system for approximately 12 hours, the lawsuit said, “during which time he improperly accessed another user account for himself and assigned it global systems administrative privileges.”

The complaint alleges, during that time, Richardson accessed his email and deleted or attempted to delete thousands of emails and documents.

Richardson continued to access or attempt to access the servers through Dec. 21, the lawsuit said.

The complaint alleges Richardson then admitted in a text message to a Heinz Family Office employee that he had accessed the servers for an allegedly innocent purpose.

“Richardson’s nefarious actions while having unauthorized access to the servers, including his deletion of more than 1,000 emails directly related to the investigation being undertaken by The Heinz Endowments, refute Richardson’s alleged innocent purpose for accessing the system,” the lawsuit said.

He was terminated Jan. 5.

Two days later, Richardson kept trying to access the IT system and computers without authorization, the lawsuit said.

The complaint includes claims for violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, conversion, fraudulent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary duty.

According to the complaint, Richardson embezzled the money through an IT-related company he owned called Operations Unlimited Inc. He directed payment for services by the company that either were never performed or were completed by a third party IT vendor, the lawsuit said.

In addition, he is accused of submitting invoices for work never performed by his company.

Richardson attempted to hide his embezzlement in April 2021 by submitting a fraudulent report made to look like it was authored by Operations Unlimited, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also accuses Richardson of selling Heinz Endowments computer servers in March 2018 to a third party, who paid Operations Unlimited.

Richardson submitted expense reports for IT hardware and software he purchased using endowment funds in 2022 and 2023, even though the products were never received by the organization, the lawsuit says.

“Despite being requested to do so on multiple occasions upon his termination of his employment, Richardson never returned the plethora of IT hardware and software purchased by him for The Heinz Endowments using assets of The Heinz Endowments. Additionally, some of the equipment that was returned by Richardson was returned in a manner that suggests that it was ‘wiped’ of data or intentionally damaged,” the lawsuit said.

Separately, Richardson was arrested following an unrelated domestic dispute April 30, 2023, at his home in McCandless.

According to the criminal complaint, Richardson became angry when a man he didn’t like called his wife.

He took her phone to the basement and fired a gunshot into it, police said. He also is accused of strangling the woman and biting her face.

Richardson is scheduled for a nonjury trial on charges of simple assault, strangulation and reckless endangerment before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer on June 27.

His criminal defense attorney in the domestic violence case, Stephen Colafella, declined to comment.