East St. Tammany chamber alleges fraud in lawsuit against former CEO

The former CEO of the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce used the agency's credit card and operating accounts to pay for thousands of dollars in personal expenses, including $3,550 doled out to Vacation Express and $1,697 paid to Macy's, a lawsuit alleges.

The suit, filed Monday (Sept. 10) in 22nd Judicial District Court in Covington, alleges that Dawn Sharpe defrauded the chamber and put it at risk of losing its nonprofit status, spending almost $12,000 of the economic development organization's money for her personal benefit.

Sharpe, who resigned March 21 after 11 years as the chamber's CEO, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

"During her time as CEO, the defendant committed multiple breaches of her fiduciary duty," the suit says. Those breaches allegedly included obtaining a credit card in chamber's name without its knowledge or consent.

Read more: https://www.nola.com/northshore/index.ssf/2018/09/east_st_tammany_chamber_allege.html