RSS Feed

PONY RIDES
Atchafalaya Bit and Bridle Club hosting Christmas at the Arena, Youngs Road, Morgan City from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15. Features pony rides, eats/treats and a movie for $5. Proceeds go towards arena maintenance.

A federal grand jury has indicted former Capital Management Consultants' bookkeeper Karen Duhon and accused her of stealing over $3 million from the Morgan City-based company during a 15-year period, U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana said in a news release.

The grand jury returned a five-count indictment Thursday in Lafayette against Duhon, 64, of Morgan City, 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 release said. The Daily Review has not confirmed whether Duhon has an attorney yet representing her against the federal charges.

The indictment alleges that Duhon, who was the bookkeeper at Capital Management Consultants Inc., a family-owned investment holdings company located in Morgan City, 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, the release said.

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, Joseph said.

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.

In September 2017, Duhon's husband, Armond Duhon was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty in June 2017 in Louisiana's 16th Judicial District Court on charges in connection with the case. Judge Keith Comeaux of the 16th district sentenced Armond Duhon after finding him guilty of 206 counts of theft over $1,500, 15 counts of theft $500-$1,500, two counts of money laundering and one count of racketeering in the case. Armond Duhon had waived his trial by jury and chose a trial by judge.

Comeaux also ordered Armond Duhon to pay $2.328 million in restitution to Capital Management along with $200,000 for court costs.

Capital Management Spokesman Marwan Mohey-El-Dien spoke about what Thursday's federal indictment of Karen Duhon means to the Guarisco family, which owns the company. Mohey-El-Dien is married to Laura Guarisco whose father Peter V. Guarisco founded Capital Management in 1982. Peter Guarisco died in 2005.

Despite the amount of time that justice is taking to prevail in the case, "the Guarisco family and myself, we believe in the system," Mohey-El-Dien said.

"We again feel tormented and heartbroken for the events that basically put Morgan City and citizens of Morgan City in the path of this case," he said.

Regardless of how much time Karen and Armond Duhon may spend in prison, it "is not enough justice for what they have done to Peter V., the Guarisco family and the community," Mohey-El-Dien said.

Company officials and the Guariscos alleged in a December 2014 lawsuit that former company CPA, the late James Scott Tucker, was the mastermind behind a scheme to steal as much as $30 million dating possibly to the early 1980s. And they and their father placed absolute trust in Tucker to run the company. They also alleged that Tucker and Karen Duhon had a romantic relationship.

Members of the Guarisco family discovered the alleged theft after Tucker's death in January 2014. The 16th Judicial District attorney filed a bill of information against defendants in the case collectively charging them with 674 counts of theft of $1,500 or more, 100 counts of money laundering and one count of racketeering. Prosecutors filed the original bill in June 2015 and added more theft charges in October 2016.

The defendants charged in the 16th district were Armond Duhon, Karen Duhon; the Duhons’ company, A-B-C Siding Co. of Morgan City Inc.; Capital Management's former assistant bookkeeper Donnasue Peveto; and Nelson-Tucker LLC, which was owned by Tucker. However, each defendant wasn’t named in every count.

Karen Duhon has yet to go to trial on the charges filed against her in the 16th district.

Peveto died in March 2016 after pleading guilty in December 2015 to one count of racketeering and 123 counts of theft over $1,500 and agreeing to testify against her co-defendants.

Attica Scott, a National Association of Counties Community Health Coach and Kentucky state representative updated the St. Mary Parish Council on efforts to reduce tobacco use.
She was joined by St. Mary Chamber of Commerce Director Donna Meyer and Dawn Kaiser-Melancon.
Scott said a “culture of health” is the goal.
“St. Mary is part of the Rural Impact County Challenge,” she said.
Its focus areas locally include creating a diverse team of leaders, develop a plan in 2019 and a process for monitoring progress.
Scott has met with many persons and sectors across the parish to develop and action plan, she said.
The outcome of those sessions includes as goals: fresher air at casino food restaurants and near sugar mills; prevent smoking around public places; no smoking where youth are present; isolated smoking areas away from public areas; and patrolling for enforcement.
The desired results, Scott listed, are: prevent second-hand smoke to increase life span; decrease cancer and lost lives; less pollution, asthma and allergies; stop second- and third-hand smoke; keep residents healthier; cleaner air; stop contamination of fresh foods; move people and mills farther from each other; the impact on global warming; and prevent lung disease or stroke.
She said St. Mary ranks 40th in Louisiana for health outcome.
Scott outlined the parish’s marks on health, economic and income equality and other categories.
“The team will call on you in 2019 to help influence the people in the community as it relates to building a culture of health,” she said.
In other business Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange reported that advertisement for bids for road improvement projects in the Four Corners, Ashton and Cypremort Point area will be received Jan. 19; bids will be received for the Amelia road improvement work on Jan. 17.
Also acted on:
—An ordinance was introduced by Councilman Paul Naquin amending a previous ordinance that renamed a portion of Cypremort Road to Joe Tooney Davis Drive. The amendment Naquin proposed would return the name to its original from Big Four Corners Road to La. 83.
—Also, ordinances were adopted approving the parish budget of revenues and capital outlay plan; abandoning a 40-foot strip of land at or near Centerville park; and setting policies and procedures for various parish sub-entities.
—Resolutions of respect were approved in memory of Larry Paul Bergeron, Gary J. Duhon and Patrick “Pat” Dehart; a resolution was approved to execute a contract with a construction firm for Garden City and Irish Bend Road overlay.
—The advisory finance board recommended removing the annual veteran’s lunch allocation of $1,500 “due to a decline in attendance” and also to allocate $10,000 to St. Mary Council on Aging.
—Javon Charles was appointed to Gravity Sub-Drainage District 1.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump highlighted the spirit of giving Tuesday by sorting toys and making Christmas cards for an annual toy drive held by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
The first lady said she had been looking forward to the Toys for Tots event all year. The charity collects new toys and distributes them to needy children at Christmas.
“I have been looking forward to this event ever since last year’s ended,” Trump said. “As a mother, I feel children are the most precious gift of all. They provide so much joy in life.” She added that her “mission” as first lady is to “shine a light” on programs that provide children with opportunities to succeed.
“I believe in the good work that Toys for Tots is doing,” the first lady said.
Dozens of children from military families joined her at a Washington-area military base to sort scores of toys, including dolls, cars, games, stuffed animals and other gifts into boxes labeled “Girls” and “Boys.” The job lasted a few minutes and then everyone sat down to make Christmas cards.
Trump was seen drawing a snowman on her piece of construction paper.
“Don’t forget the carrot,” she told a girl.
The White House said the first lady was donating 100 books to a companion Toys for Tots literacy program. She also gave the children coloring books and White House candies stashed inside white tote bags labeled “Be Best” — the name of her child welfare initiative — and delivered by Santa Claus.
Retired Lt. Gen. Henry Osman, president and CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, said there’s greater demand for toys this year after the devastating California wildfires and hurricanes in Florida and the Carolinas. Osman said the foundation would meet the demand through the generosity of the American people and the work of the Marines and their thousands of volunteers.
He called the first lady “our No. 1 volunteer.”
“What a champ she has been,” Osman said.