Tourist agency boss charged with fraud
A former president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network has been charged with defrauding the publicly funded agency.
Tonnette Rice, aged 55, faces felony theft charges and filing false public records.
She is accused of writing out agency cheques to herself to the tune of $70,000.
She resigned from the position in January 2017, around the time the city’s Office of Inspector General began investigating the agency’s spending.
The New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network was created to lure more minority travellers and conventions to the city and was publicly funded with an annual budget of $500,000.
Rice handed herself in to police this week after an arrest warrant was issued.
She used the cheques ‘for her personal benefit’, investigators allege in court documents.
Rice could receive up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 if found guilty.