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An Alexandria woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud after using a U.S. House member's personal bank account information to pay her own credit card bills, federal prosecutors announced.
Courtney Melissa Hruska, 40, worked on the unnamed member's congressional staff from August 2015 to January 2022. As part of her official duties, the member entrusted Hruska with personal credit card and bank account information. When Hruska left the office Jan. 30, 2022, for a position with a federal agency, she retained that information without authorization.
More than a year later, between Aug. 19, 2023, and July 30, 2024, Hruska used the member's bank account to make payments toward her own personal credit card balance on 10 separate occasions. Because the member did not use electronic banking and did not receive immediate alerts from the bank, the theft went undetected for more than a year. By the time the fraud was discovered, the member recovered less than nine percent of the stolen funds through fraud compensation.
In total, Hruska caused a loss of at least $22,865.07.
Hruska is scheduled to be sentenced June 23 and faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Drucker. Court documents are available on PACER under Case No. 1:26-cr-57.
The DOJ press release did not identify the member of Congress. According to LegiStorm, a public congressional staffing database, Hruska served as scheduler and office manager for Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) from August 2015 through January 2022 — a timeline that matches the dates cited in court documents. Kaptur has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The Alexandria Brief has reached out to Kaptur's office for comment.
Editor's note: This story will be updated upon response from Rep. Kaptur's office.
