Woman charged with wire fraud, tax evasion

CLEVELAND -- A 59-year-old Beloit woman has been charged with one count of wire fraud and two counts of tax evasion in connection with diversion of about $800,000 from an Alliance-based landfill business, primarily to buy and maintain show horses, the U.S. attorney said.
The government alleges that Joanne E. Douglas of Ellet Road, who was president and part owner of Central Waste Inc., devised a fraudulent scheme to obtain company funds for personal use between February 1998 and October 2001.
The government contends she obtained about $800,000 from the company's checking accounts by issuing checks and arranging wire and other bank transfers beyond her authorized salary. Douglas falsely recorded the transactions as corporate business expenses, but she actually used the money for her personal benefit, primarily buying and maintaining show horses in Ohio and Florida, the U.S. attorney said.
Douglas is also charged with attempting to evade some $68,668 in taxes for 1998 and 1999 by filing false personal income tax returns on which she failed to report some $211,112 in income. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS in Youngstown.