Lewes Woman Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for $430,000+ Embezzlement

WILMINGTON, Del. - Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Penni Enama, age 50, of Lewes, Delaware, was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Gregory M. Sleet, United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, to 24 months in prison, and full restitution.  The defendant pleaded guilty to violations of wire fraud and tax evasion, in December 2015.

According to court filings and statements made at the sentencing hearing, the defendant was employed by a law firm in Delaware. In May 2007, she began embezzling funds from the firm’s escrow account.  The defendant was a real estate paralegal, and she used her access to a closing escrow account to divert at least $439,824.40 to her personal use.  The defendant fabricated additional real estate closing parties in the firm’s records, and she used the additional funds to pay her personal credit cards and/or deposit the funds into her personal bank accounts.  The defendant did not declare the embezzled funds on her federal income tax returns for the 2011-2013 tax years. 

Judge Sleet commented that the defendant’s conduct was “quite involved, quite calculated, and disturbingly so.”

U.S. Attorney Oberly stated, “In yet another case involving a major breach of trust, Ms. Enama stole substantial funds from her employer, causing injury to both the law firm and its attorneys. While Ms. Enama was, until caught, living a dream life with stolen funds, she will now dream for the next two years that crime does not pay.”

 “Today’s sentence shows the strong impact of when the bond of trust between an employer and employee is violated by greed. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division will work diligently so that the American public can trust that those who commit such crimes will be held accountable.” said Akeia Conner, Internal Revenue Service, Special Agent in Charge.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Paxton.