Philadelphia Museum of Art executive pleads guilty to using company credit cards to make $30k in personal purchases
Latasha Harling, the art museum’s former chief people and diversity officer, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor, on Friday.
A former top executive at the Philadelphia Museum of Art admitted Friday that she used corporate credit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars in personal purchases.
Latasha Harling, the museum’s former chief people and diversity officer, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor, avoiding a trial that had been scheduled for Friday.
Among the things she bought were $1,484 in airline tickets from United Airlines, $482 in goods from Ikea, and $257 in clothing from Common Ground.
Common Pleas Court Judge Leon King II sentenced Harling, 44, to five years of probation. Harling, who resigned from the museum in January 2025 after officials confronted her about the expenses, told the judge that she was interviewing for jobs outside Philadelphia but did not elaborate.
King also ordered Harling to pay $30,000 in restitution to the museum. She must begin making monthly payments of at least $500 in January, he said. If she pays the restitution in full before her probation ends, he added, Harling may ask the court to terminate her probation early.
In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception. Harling had faced up to five years in prison if convicted of those charges.
Harling was hired in November 2023 as a senior member of the museum’s executive staff, overseeing human resources, diversity initiatives, and related budgetary responsibilities. As part of her job, she had access to corporate credit cards for business expenses.
Museum officials began questioning her spending in January 2025, after noticing several large, apparently personal purchases on her credit card statements, according to an affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. An audit by the museum’s chief financial officer found that Harling had charged $58,885 in personal expenses to the card over the course of her tenure, police said.
After museum officials confronted Harling about the charges, they proposed that she repay $32,565, according to the affidavit. She resigned soon afterward without resolving the matter.
The museum continued trying to recover the money. In February 2025, Harling signed a promissory note agreeing to repay $19,380 over three months, but had made no payments by April, according to the affidavit. A lawyer for the museum then contacted police.
Prosecutor William Inden said Friday that the museum’s attorney had told the district attorney’s office that the institution would not pursue additional litigation against Harling if she paid the restitution in full.
Museum officials are “grateful that the case” is resolved, a spokesperson said in a statement, adding that “we look forward to returning our focus to the exhibitions, programs, and experiences we provide for our community.”
Harling declined to comment after the hearing.
