Tewksbury Woman Charged With Tax And Unemployment Fraud

TEWKSBURY, MA — A Tewksbury woman who was charged in November with fraud and identity theft was hit with two additional charges including filing a false tax return in a superseding indictment, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Prosecutors said the woman embezzled more than $1.8 million from her employer, an Acton-based flooring company.

In the superseding indictment, Joanne Dinoto, also known as Joanne Mara, 47 of Tewksbury, was charged with an additional count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. She was previously charged with one count of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Dinoto's scheme ran from Dec. 2013 to April 2020, officials said.

"Dinoto stole more than $1.8 million from her employer, a flooring company based in Acton, by falsely inflating her compensation, using her employer’s corporate credit card for personal expenses, and forging at least two checks to herself from her employer’s checking account," according to prosecutors. "To hide her scheme, Dinoto allegedly modified her employer’s accounting records."

Additionally, prosecutors said, Dinoto collected unemployment benefits under her true Social Security number from August 2020 to May 2021 while working full-time for a Wilmington lighting company under a fake Social Security number.

Finally, the new indictment alleges that from 2015 to 2020, Dinoto left more than $1 million in embezzled funds and Wilmington wages off her federal tax returns.

Dinoto could face up to 30 years in prison for the charge of bank fraud and lesser sentences for the other charges.

All people are considered innocent until proven guilty.