Tewksbury Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $1.8M From Employer

BOSTON, MA — A woman from Tewksbury pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.8 million from the Acton-based flooring company where she worked, in addition to collecting unemployment benefits while still employed and to tax charges, according to the U.S. District Attorney's Office of Massachusetts.

Joanne Dinoto, who also was known as Joanne Mara, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of filing a false tax return.

Dinoto, who was indicted by a federal grand jury this past November, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, authorities said.

According to court records, between April 2008 and April 2020, Dinoto stole more than $1.8 million from her employer, the Acton-based flooring company. Dinoto did this by falsely inflating her compensation, using her employer's corporate credit card for personal expenses and forging multiple checks to her herself drawn on her employer's checking account, authorities said.

In order to hide this scheme, authorities said, Dinoto modified her employer's accounting records.

Later, Dinoto was employed full-time by a Wilmington-based lighting company, but she collected unemployment benefits from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance under a different social security number, according to authorities.

Court records indicate that between 2015 and 2020, Dinoto failed to report on her federal income tax returns the more than $1 million that she embezzled from the Acton company or the money she received from the Wilmington company.

According to authorities, the charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.

The charge of filling a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Additionally, the charge of aggravated identity theft provides a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, up to one year of supervised released and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.