Former Hickory CEO sentenced to 8 years in prison in $15M embezzlement scheme

CHARLOTTE — The former CEO of a company in Hickory who is accused of stealing more than $15 million was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday.

Earlier this year, Channel 9′s Dave Faherty reported that Donna Steele pleaded guilty to a wire fraud embezzlement scheme that involved Tigra, a company based out of Hickory.

Steele appeared in front of a federal judge in Charlotte to learn her sentencing. Prosecutors originally asked for 70-87 months of prison time.

Steele did not answer any of Channel 9′s questions as she headed into the courtroom.

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Steele pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $15 million from Tigra for over seven years, according to federal documents. She used some of the money to pay for her lavish lifestyle and family businesses.

Bernd Motzer, the owner Tigra, spoke at the sentencing, noting the company almost went under due to the accused actions of Steele.

“The company almost did go under,” Motzer said. “It was a lucky instance that we got notified by a vendor.”

Steele fought back tears during the sentencing and turned to Motzer to apologize. Officials told Channel 9 none of the $15 million has been paid back. We learned an unknown amount of jewelry was turned over the federal officials.

Court documents showed Steele spent over half a million on jewelry alone.

Tigra Steele pleaded guilty to a wire fraud embezzlement scheme that involved Tigra, a company based out of Hickory. (WSOC)

After pleading guilty earlier this year, Channel 9 learned that as part of her plea agreement, Steele agreed to pay full restitution in the embezzlement case and is liquidating her assets.

Prosecutors said Steele had a multi-faceted embezzlement scheme, using her position to make more than $6 million in personal credit card purchases, approximately 98 checks totaling more than $2.8 million, 127 “QuickBooks transactions” totaling more than $4.7 million; and at least 117 wire transfers totaling more than $2.2 million.

Authorities believed she used money to also fund family businesses that were located in Alexander County, north of Hickory.

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