“Dirty Duck” basement bar? Woman allegedly stole $3 million to live well

A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday charges a Kansas City woman embezzled almost $3 million and drove her employer into bankruptcy.

The fraud by Irene Marie Brooner, 52, allegedly lasted from 2004 to 2014.

According to a press release from federal prosecutors and from court records:

The money stolen from Galvmet Inc., a sheet metal fabricator, went for lavish spending that included remodeling and decorating her basement bar called “the Dirty Duck.”

It included seating for 15, five tap lines, three flat-screen televisions, a smoke machine, two couches and eight-foot-tall stained wainscoting.

And it featured mannequins outfitted in World War II German and American uniforms, complete with a Thompson sub-machine gun and M-1 Garands with attached bayonets.

Among her other expenditures were $18,383 on alcohol, $289,290 to pay off her mortgage, $81,686 for jewelry, more than $400,000 on clothing, $59,571 on spa visits and beauty items, $97.180 on restaurants and $68,745 on tuition for her children.

Brooner was controller at the company, which at its peak in 2008 had 26 employees and $14 million in annual sales. It filed for bankruptcy in 2014.

She faces three counts of bank fraud, five of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of her home, Lexus, jewelry and other items for a money total of $2.96 million.

One Comment

  1. Rochelle Henderson says:

    Wow how? Money was spent on stupidity….she needs a mental eval

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