BATON ROUGE — More than $9,000 in funds and equipment from the Capital city's tourism department was misappropriated, a report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office said.

The report, conducted by an independent auditor, says that, between the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years, $3,321 in cash and camera equipment went missing from Visit Baton Rouge's office. The audit says the equipment and cash appear to have been stolen, with janitorial services listed as the alleged guilty party. 

Following this incident, Visit Baton Rouge management said it would not store petty cash in its offices, as well as ensuring that all equipment is locked in a specific location going forward. Management also removed the alleged perpetrator’s access to VBR.

Later, in March 2026, two payments totalling $5,683 were made to an unauthorized account. The payments were intended for an employee, but were intercepted after a phishing scam requesting VBR's administration to update banking information.

This incident caused management to require independent verification for any direct deposit changes, whether that is an in-person paper form or through a secure payroll portal only.

Both incidents of misappropriated funds are still under investigation, the audit adds. 

The full report can be read here.