LAPLACE — A former bookkeeper for the St. John the Baptist Parish Library arrested in November for an alleged $5,000 in theft was arrested again April 5, now suspected to have made $59,000 in unauthorized purchases.

Dulce Milagro Michelen, 38, of LaPlace, is facing new felony charges including principal to computer fraud and money laundering after results from a forensic audit revealed additional evidence of misappropriated funds.

Michelen also faces felony charges of malfeasance in office, maintaining false public records, bank fraud and theft from her Nov. 21 arrest.

Michelen resigned from the St. John Parish Library on Aug. 17, 2018, and the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriffs Office began an investigation in September 2018 after a temporary worker found anomalies in the 2018 financial records.

The initial investigation estimated the alleged theft to total between $5,000 and $10,000, pending a final audit.

Library Board of Control member Maria Victoria Coy previously told L’OBSERVATEUR more than $50,000 in spending could not be accounted for because purchases were directed to “Capitol One” or “cash,” without listing specific vendor names.

“Poor bookkeeping does not make you a thief,” Coy said. “However, if you’re going to steal money, you would hide a needle in a haystack, so to speak, under legitimate purchases. I demand that every single check be accounted for.”

According to a St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office release, a final audit determined Michelen stole approximately $59,000.

“Detectives found evidence of misappropriated funds through credit card charges and fictitious invoice checks and money laundering by Michelen in an attempt to conceal the source of the funding she used for personal gain,” the release said.

Investigation is ongoing, according to St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre.

“The library hired a company to do a specialized internal audit, and working jointly with the company we found a trail of fraud and theft,” Tregre said.

Tregre said he could not share details on the means by which Michelen allegedly laundered the money.

“We would rather not make that public right now,” Tregre said. “We don’t want anybody else to try to duplicate what she did.”
Michelen was arrested and released on April 5 after posting a $22,500 bond.

She worked for the St. John the Baptist Parish Public Defender Office at the time of her most recent arrest, according to the St. John Sheriff’s Office. St. John Public Defender Richard Stricks did not respond to L’OBSERVATEUR requests for comment.