An Eden Prairie woman has been indicted on federal charges of embezzling more than $1 million from her employer, according to a Jan. 31 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota.
Monica Svobodny, 51, faces charges of diverting funds for personal use from her position as the supply chain and engineering manager at Sico Inc., a furniture and home furnishing manufacturing company in Edina.
Court documents state that Svobodny made unauthorized purchases with company credit cards, including designer clothing, spa services, and luxury hotel stays. To conceal her fraud, she reportedly left unapproved credit card expenses marked as “pending” for accounting purposes.
Svobodny is accused of using company cards to transfer funds to herself through PayPal for personal expenses on more than 300 occasions. Additionally, she allegedly edited PayPal transaction receipts and falsely listed some expenses as payments to a defunct company.
The press release stated that Svobodny “knowingly and willfully embezzled” more than $1.137 million from Sico Inc. over a period of seven years.
Svobodny was charged with one count of wire fraud. She will make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court at a later date.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Edina Police Department and the FBI.
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