Morgan City Bookkeeper Indicted for Stealing More Than $3 Millon

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a five-count indictment against Karen Duhon, 64, of Morgan City, Louisiana, charging her with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of mail fraud.

The indictment alleges that Duhon, who was the bookkeeper at Capital Management Consultants, Inc. ("CMCI"), a family-owned company located in Morgan City, Louisiana, stole more than $3 million from January 1999 through March 2014. Duhon wrote fraudulent checks to herself, which were drawn on CMCI’s bank account and deposited those checks into bank accounts owned by her and her husband. In order to conceal these fraudulent payments from the CMCI account, Duhon made false accounting entries into CMCI’s records. During this time, Duhon also assisted certain family members with their personal finances. She used funds from a family member’s personal brokerage account at Oppenheimer and Co. to make payments on her American Express accounts. As a result of Duhon’s fraudulent activities, she embezzled $3,194,920.

If convicted, Duhon faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution, forfeiture and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas F. Phillips is prosecuting the case.

The charges in the indictment are only accusations; the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.