An Eden Prairie woman has found herself on the wrong side of the law after being sentenced to 24 months behind bars for embezzling a hefty sum from her employer, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Monica Svobodny, 52, who held the title of Supply Chain and Engineering Manager at an Edina-based furniture manufacturer, siphoned off more than $1.1 million over seven years, funding a lifestyle of luxury hotels and designer clothes that were certainly not in her job description.
While Svobodny was supposed to oversee the supply chain and engineering projects for her company, she instead engineered a scheme that put the finances of her employer into a tailspin. Court documents exposed how she used company credit cards for unauthorized personal items and lavish experiences, and with a sleight of hand, she managed to keep these expenses under wraps by listing them as “pending,” a savvy move until it wasn't.
Her deceit ran deep as she also manipulated PayPal receipts, labeling personal splurges as business expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's statement, this pattern of fraud reached over 300 instances, involving deceitful transfers to line her pockets—behavior that finally caught up to her.
In a federal courtroom, laden with the evidence of her actions, Svobodny pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on April 10 and was sentenced by Judge Ann D. Montgomery to serve a two-year prison term, along with two years of supervised release and to make full restitution of the pilfered $1,137,404, a daunting payback for a crime that has not only robbed her of her freedom but also of her reputation.
The case came to a close thanks to the joint efforts of the Edina Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ensuring that financial crimes such as Svobodny's do not go unchecked, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca E. Kline spearheading the prosecution that brought an end to a seven-year saga of deceit and thievery.
