The Former CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand plead guilty Tuesday in Horry County court to two charges of breach of trust with fraudulent intent.
Judge Benjamin H. Culbertson sentenced , Dione Eban Buonto, 51, to two years probation. She will pay a $50,000 fine on top of restitution.
Buonto was indicted for the charges in July of 2021. The S.C. Attorney General’s Office said that Buonto embezzled more than $100,000 from the nonprofit.
According to the written indictment for Buonto, she spent the following:
From December 2014 to December 2019:
Over $26,000 in bonuses that Buonto issued to herself without receiving board approval
From February 2018 to March 2019:
$6,000 for personal moving expenses and rental deposits in two different instances
Between March 2018 and January 2020:
Over $27,000 for 16 personal trips. The money was said to have covered airfare, car rentals, lodging, meals and other personal expenses for Buonto’s daughter, son, male acquaintance, and the man’s mother.
Between April 2018 and March 2019:
$13,473 for Buonto’s son’s College of Charleston expenses
From June 2018 to December 2019:
$1,700 at Blush Beauty Bar, a Myrtle Beach hair salon
$4,000 at Knotting Hill Interiors and Boutique, a Myrtle Beach interior design studio
$400 at Revel6 Hair Bar, a Myrtle Beach hair salon
$1,800 in medical expenses for Buonto’s son
Buonto is also accused of depositing, into her personal account, a $556 medical refund check and a $500 donation check made out to the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand.
Between April and October 2019:
$3,778 for her son’s tuition at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics
$2,954 for her son’s student loans
Buonto’s attorney, Strom Thurmond Jr., said that Buonto would pay restitution to the amount of $88,414.89 in court and that the money would be given back to the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand.
Anita Floyd, vice chair of the Myrtle Beach-area Boys & Girls Club, said in court that Buonto “exploited (the board’s) trust in the worst possible way, by taking from children” and that the nonprofit had to “regain the trust of the community.”
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