By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A LaPlace man accused of stealing more than $400,000 from a Houma tire company by redirecting inventory to his own business was arrested by State Police investigators Monday.

Michael E. Hebert, 40, was charged with felony theft in the amount of $404,167, said Trooper Melissa Matey, a State Police spokesperson. Matey said the arrest was the culmination of a State Police investigation that began in April 2009.

Matey said troopers working in the Bureau of Investigations Criminal Investigations Division determined that Hebert, an employee of Tire Centers Inc., in Houma from June 2004 until January 2006, also owned Bayou Truck Tire Sales. The investigation found that Hebert was ordering inventory for Tire Centers Inc., and diverting extra inventory to his own company.

Investigators said Hebert was able to divert funds from one company to the other through a series of fraudulent code entries and inventory manipulation.

Hebert was held in the Terrebonne Parish Jail on a $50,000 bond.