Capital Management probe isn't over

More charges are possible in the ongoing investigation into an alleged racketeering, theft and money laundering scheme, in which the 16th Judicial District Attorney filed a bill of information charging three people and two businesses for their alleged involvement in the case that spanned at least a 13-year period.
On June 29, 16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhe filed an 81-page bill of information charging Karen Duhon, Armond Duhon, Donnasue Peveto, the Duhons’ company A-B-C Siding of Morgan City Inc., and Nelson-Tucker LLC on one count of racketeering, 354 counts of theft of $1,500 or more and 100 counts of money laundering from Capital Management Consultants Inc. in Morgan City.
Nelson-Tucker was owned by former Capital Management Consultants controller CPA James Scott Tucker, who died in January 2014.
“The filing of the bill of information doesn’t necessarily indicate that that’s the end all be all,” First Assistant District Attorney Robert Vines said. “Cases evolve as they move through the criminal justice process.”
The investigation into the alleged crimes against Capital Management Consultants is ongoing, Vines said.
Vines chose to file a bill of information in the case because he believed there was sufficient evidence to support the charges “beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.
Certain charges can only be filed through a bill of indictment returned by a grand jury, which includes cases with the potential for a life imprisonment or death sentence, Vines said.
In all other cases, the District Attorney’s Office may file a bill of information after determining enough evidence exists to support a particular charge or charges, Vines said.
Though a grand jury may be used in any case, the District Attorney’s Office wasn’t required to use a grand jury in this case, Vines said.
Because all five of the defendants, three people and two companies, charged are alleged to have been involved in the “racketeering enterprise,” the District Attorney decided to file one bill of information against all of them, Vines said.
However, not all the defendants are charged with each of the 354 counts of theft over $1,500 and 100 counts of money laundering, Vines said. Each count of those charges specifically states which parties are accused of a crime in the count, he said. Vines did not have the breakdown of how many charges each person or entity faced, he said.
The bill of information alleges that the racketeering activity began before Jan. 1, 2001, and continued through March 25, 2014, when Morgan City police began an investigation into the alleged crimes. The defendants are accused to have knowingly received proceeds derived from racketeering activity and used those funds to acquire immovable property, the bill stated.
The bill alleges that the defendants were involved in an organization engaged in theft, money laundering, obstruction of justice, fraud, misrepresentations, deception, forgery and subterfuge, among other things.
The theft over $1,500 charges in the bill of information accuse the suspects of writing checks from Capital Management Consultants and depositing the checks in the suspects’ personal bank accounts.
On Dec. 30, 2014, Capital Management Consultants filed a lawsuit against Armond Duhon, Karen Duhon and members’ of Tucker’s estate alleging that Tucker was the mastermind behind a scheme to steal money, real estate, artwork and mineral rights from the company, possibly dating to the early 1980s.
Company officials accused Tucker and Karen Duhon, a former bookkeeper for Capital Management who worked directly under Tucker, of stealing as much as $30 million during a roughly 30-year period by using a manual, outdated accounting system to conceal the theft.
Capital Management’s lawsuit alleged that Karen Duhon and Tucker were in a romantic relationship.
Laura Guarisco, daughter of company founder the late Peter V. Guarisco, discovered the alleged theft after Tucker died, Capital Management Consultants Marwan Mohey-El-Dien said. Mohey-El-Dien is married to Laura Guarisco.
Company officials further alleged that Tucker and Karen Duhon paid Peveto, a former assistant bookkeeper and assistant to management, to stay quiet after she found out about the scheme.
On July 24, 2014, Peveto was arrested by Morgan City police on seven counts of theft more than $1,500 totaling $633,700 from Capital Management Consultants.
On July 29, 2014, Karen Duhon was charged by Morgan City Police on eight counts of felony theft totaling $1.233 million and, on Jan. 2, Karen Duhon was additionally charged with 28 counts of theft of over $1,500 totaling $221,801.01.
On June 25, Armond Duhon was arrested on charges for 23 counts of theft over $1,500 totaling $773,785.27, money laundering, intimidation of witnesses and racketeering in connection with the case.
According to St. Mary Parish Clerk of Court records, Armond Duhon has a bond reduction hearing scheduled Monday to reduce his bail of $576,000. Armond Duhon’s attorney, Robert Fuhrer, filed a motion July 1 to reduce the bond citing that the amount “is unreasonable for the crimes he has been charged with.”
Vines said Karen Duhon and Peveto both had pre-trial conferences scheduled for Monday.
Armond Duhon, Karen Duhon, Peveto, A-B-C Siding Company of Morgan City Inc., and Nelson-Tucker LLC are all set to be arraigned Aug. 25 in District Court, according to Clerk of Court records.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.