Former Officer of Woburn Company Sentenced for Embezzling $1.3 Million

WOBURN, MA — A Fitchburg woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court for embezzling over $1.3 million from her former Woburn-based employer over a ten-year period.

Dawnmarie Prince, 47, was sentenced by Judge Rya W. Zobel to four years in prison, three years of supervised released and ordered to pay restitution of over $1.3 million. In June, the former officer Prince plead guilty to eight counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Prince used her position as an office manager to steal hundreds of the company's checks which she made payable to herself or her son. The announcement also stated that she forged her boss' signature on the stolen checks and deposited them into her personal bank account.

She had worked for a Woburn-based life science technology firm, which was not named by the U.S. Attorney's office.

Prince also removed copies of the negotiated checks when sent back by the bank, and falsified entries into the company's bookkeeping software to make it appear as if the stolen checks were used to pay legitimate vendors, according to the release.

She had previously been convicted of mail fraud for defrauding a previous employer and sentenced to three years of probation in 2001.