Ocean View woman sentenced for embezzling more than $1.1 million from Bethany business

DELAWARE – An Ocean View woman was sentenced on Wednesday on federal wire fraud and tax evasion charges.

According to court documents and statements made in court, 55-year-old Joan Donald worked as an administrative assistant and quasi-bookkeeper for Dovetail, Inc., a high-end interior design and construction business in Bethany Beach. Beginning in at least 2014, Donald began defrauding Dovetail and its owner by paying herself a shadow salary, paying her personal credit card bills using the business’s bank account, and funneling money to her husband in various ways, including by fraudulent checks and Square payments.

In total, Donald embezzled more than $1.1 million from Dovetail and its owner.

Chief U.S. District Judge Colm F. Connolly sentenced Donald to 51 months in federal prison as a result.