March 29, 2024

Accountant Pleads Guilty to Misappropriating Funds from New Orleans Band

Accountant Pleads Guilty to Misappropriating Funds from New Orleans Band

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ALICE C. “SHANNON” CHABAUD, age 80, of New Orleans, pled guilty on February 1, 2023 to access device fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029(a)(2) and (c)(1)(A)(i), in relation to her theft from her former accounting client, a New Orleans-based band named as “Band A.”

According to documents filed in federal court, CHABAUD illegally accessed Band A’s bank accounts after she was terminated as the band’s accountant in 2015. From the time of her firing in September 2015 until May 2020, she misappropriated $207, 607.95 from Band A without band members’ knowledge or permission.

CHABAUD faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a up to a $250,000.00 fine or the greater of twice the gross gain to the defendant or twice the gross loss to any person under Title 18, United States Code, Section 3571, followed by up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the FBI New Orleans Field Office in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew R. Payne is in charge of the prosecution.

 

Originally published at https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/neworleans/news/accountant-pleads-guilty-to-misappropriating-funds-from-new-orleans-band