Longtime Columbus-based treasurer admits to stealing nearly $1M from campaign accounts

A longtime treasurer to Republican candidates pleaded guilty in federal court to a fraud charge related to stealing nearly $1 million in campaign money.

William Curlis, 76, admitted that he defrauded candidates of $995,231 in campaign cash from 2008 to June 2023. In his plea deal, Curlis said he wrote more than 175 checks to himself for personal use from candidate accounts and one PAC account.

Curlis will pay $995,231 in restitution.

Curlis served as treasurer to local, Ohio and federal campaigns, often as the only signatory on accounts and he frequently discouraged candidates from having access to bank statements without his oversight, prosecutors said. He worked for more than 100 candidates over the past four decades

Last year, state Sen. Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard; former Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Franklin County Engineer Cornell Robertson filed complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission about Curlis.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.