Danielle Steel's Former Assistant to Serve Jail Time for Fraud

Posted on April 22, 2010

Danielle Steel's former bookkeeper, Kristy Watts, has been sentenced to two years and nine months in a federal prison. Watts also goes by the name Kristy Siegrist.

The SF Gate reports that Watts has paid about $1 million to Daniel Steel after Steel sued her in civil court. This latest sentence comes from the federal government. An FBI release says Watts will serve 33 months in jail and pay $60,677 in fines after beeing convicted of wire fraud and tax evasion.

It was reported last year that Kristy Watts embezzled over two million from author Danielle Steel. She was Danielle Steel's assistant/bookkeeper for over 15 years, from 1993 to 2008.

The FBI release says Watts raided petty cash funds by taking checks made payable to "Cash" and depositing them in her own account. She also abused the ADP system by giving herself extra salary and bonus payments. She also stole Steel's American Express rewards points.