LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana woman who pleaded guilty to illegally taking more than $3 million from the company she worked for has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Chief U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. also sentenced Karen Duhon, 67, of Berwick, to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $3.3 million in restitution, federal authorities announced Wednesday.
Duhon pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud on Aug. 12. She worked as a bookkeeper at Capital Management Consultants, Inc., a family-owned company in Morgan City, from 1973 until August 2014. Beginning in January 1999, Duhon began writing checks to herself in amounts over her allowed salary, which the company's treasurer would then sign, U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown said in a news release.
Duhon deposited the checks in various accounts owned by her and her husband. She would then make false accounting entries in the company’s records to disguise the payments.
She's also accused of using a brokerage account connected with one of the business' owners to pay $127,920 in expenses on her personal American Express cards, Brown's office said.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
