An Upper St. Clair woman's last-minute gift to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh created a stir among staff members, one of whom said they were told to keep quiet about it when they found out hours before the charity's annual banquet last year.

The charity this week returned the gift "just out of caution" after a week of reports that the woman's attorney had helped dispense tens of thousands of dollars in political donations the woman later said she did not approve. The attorney, Charles P. McCullough, is also the husband of Patricia McCullough, executive director of Catholic Charities.

Mary Ann Krupa, who worked in the charity's development office from 2002 until June, said employees were preparing for their annual fund-raising banquet and were short of a $600,000 fund-raising goal when she was called by Mrs. McCullough. She said Mrs. McCullough told her of a last-minute $10,000 donation by an elderly client of her husband.

"She said to keep quiet about it," Ms. Krupa said. "I said 'I don't understand.' She said 'You don't have to understand. It's a total secret.' "

Mrs. McCullough declined to comment on the assertion and a spokeswoman for the charity, Clare Kushma, also declined comment.

Parts of Ms. Krupa's account were corroborated by another former employee of the charity, who reported hearing the advice not to talk about the last-minute gift.

The money came from a trust fund set up on behalf of Shirley H. Jordan, a 90-year-old Upper St. Clair woman whose late husband, attorney Fred Jordan, amassed a fortune estimated at more than $14 million. Mrs. Jordan's trust earlier this year dispensed checks of $10,000 each to Judge Cheryl Allen, a candidate for Pennsylvania Superior Court, and Allegheny County Council members Jan Rea, Vince Gastgeb and Susan Caldwell.

All of the candidates except Judge Allen have returned the donations after Mrs. Jordan last week said she never approved them.

After complaining to police about hearing voices and being taken to St. Clair Hospital in 2005, Mrs. Jordan was diagnosed with a moderate case of dementia. While Mr. McCullough said she has been politically active in the past, she has not voted since November 2000, and no records could be found for the past 15 years showing any political donations.

Mr. McCullough, who holds a power-of-attorney for Mrs. Jordan, previously said that he had run the political donations past Mrs. Jordan. He is a candidate for an at-large seat on the Allegheny County Council.

Mrs. Jordan couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

The donations have sparked an in-house review at Mr. McCullough's employer, the law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC.

Ms. Krupa said that large donations from givers who request no publicity were not unusual at the charity, but that "keep your mouth shut, it's a secret -- it's not that common."

One month after the banquet, Ms. Krupa said she was called into Mrs. McCullough's office and told her job was being "bifurcated," in essence, divided into two posts. She was offered neither of the jobs and now works at another area charity.