Brooke Miller Duck, a 31-year-old resident of Midland, Texas and former resident of Arnaudville, Louisiana, pled guilty on March 6 to embezzling more than $500,000 from her employer while working as a manager at two medical clinics in Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Duck now faces up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud.
The case highlights the risks that small businesses face when employees abuse their positions of trust. United States Attorney Zachary A. Keller said, “Brooke Duck now faces justice after spending years betraying the trust of her employer and treating that employer’s bank accounts like her own personal slush fund. Frauds perpetrated by people like Mrs. Duck erode the trust that our Louisiana small businesses need to perform their critical work, and our Office stands ready to prosecute those abuses.”
According to court documents, Duck had access to the clinics’ credit cards and bank accounts between May 2020 and October 2023. She used these resources for unauthorized personal expenses, including a $15,000 payment for a time-share vacation property. To cover these purchases, she transferred funds from the clinics’ bank accounts to pay off the credit card balances. In total, she caused $539,451.41 in unauthorized transactions for her own financial gain.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Lafayette Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Daniel Siefker Jr., with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Denise Duhon, is prosecuting the case.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller announced the plea agreement and encouraged those interested in further details or updates on this case to visit the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana at www.justice.gov/usao-wdla or consult related court documents under Case Number 6:26-cr-00096 at www.lawd.uscourts.gov.
