Incline Cash Grab: Lawyer Accused of $1.3M Theft

⏱ 3 min read

Pittsburgh lawyer Christopher Furman, 53, is staring down the barrel of federal charges after allegedly ripping off the Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Heights Incline to the tune of $1,379,300. The scheme ran from October 2024 to September 2025, and the money wasn’t going to keep the historic funicular running – it was lining Furman’s pockets.

According to the indictment, Furman, while President of the Incline Society, authorized over 25 electronic transfers to his personal account, despite having no authority to access those funds. The 1964-established nonprofit maintains the iconic Pittsburgh landmark. Instead of preserving a piece of Pittsburgh history, Furman allegedly dumped the stolen cash into a cryptocurrency exchange, buying and selling digital assets as if it were his personal slush fund.

Prosecutors say Furman used the scheme to boost his own wealth. The indictment alleges a systematic pattern of unauthorized transfers, each designed to siphon funds from the Society and conceal the trail. The Incline Society, now short over a million dollars, is left scrambling to make up the difference.

If convicted, Furman faces up to 20 years on each count of wire fraud and another 10 years for money laundering – a potential 30-year stretch, plus hefty fines that could hit hundreds of thousands of dollars. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McKenna is leading the prosecution.