(Updated) Key figure in massive fraud case found dead

Donnasue Peveto, who pleaded guilty in December 2015 to involvement in an alleged scheme to steal millions of dollars from her former employer, Capital Management Consultants in Morgan City, has died, her attorney confirmed this morning
Peveto, 59, died at about 10 a.m. Sunday in Houma, said attorney Thomas Alonzo, who represented Peveto in the criminal case against her.
Peveto is believed to have died of natural causes and “was not in good health,” Alonzo said.
“She had multiple medical problems, so it (her death) was not at all associated with the (charges against her),” Alonzo said.
The Capital Management case is alleged to involve the theft of $30 million over the course of decades.
On Dec. 9, 2015, Peveto pleaded guilty to racketeering and multiple theft counts and agreed to testify against her co-defendants, according to the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
In all, Peveto entered guilty pleas to 123 counts of theft over $1,500 as well as to racketeering. Peveto was scheduled to be sentenced April 12.
The plea deal from the District Attorney’s Office said Peveto joined Karen Duhon, Armond Duhon, James Scott Tucker and two companies in a criminal enterprise.
On June 29, 2015, District Attorney Bo Duhe filed a bill of information collectively charging Karen Duhon and Armond Duhon, who are married; Peveto; A-BC Siding Co. of Morgan City; and NelsonTucker LLC with one count of racketeering, 354 counts of theft of $1,500 or more and 100 counts of money laundering.
According to the plea agreement, Peveto, who worked for the Guarisco family beginning in 1980, worked with Karen Duhon and Tucker to steal from Capital Management. At least 123 times, Peveto received checks drawn on a Capital Management account by Karen Duhon and signed by Tucker, then deposited the checks in her account and wrote personal checks back to Duhon, the plea agreement said.
In a lawsuit filed Dec. 30, 2014, Capital Management Consultants alleged that Tucker was the leader behind a conspiracy to steal money from the company along with former bookkeeper Karen Duhon dating back possibly to the early 1980s.
Peveto, who worked as an assistant bookkeeper and assistant to management, found out about Tucker and Karen Duhon’s theft from the company so they paid her to stay quiet, Capital Management Consultants spokesman Marwan Mohey-El-Dien said.