Minnesota Woman Charged for Embezzling More Than $1 Million from Employer

MINNEAPOLIS – An Eden Prairie woman has been indicted for embezzling more than $1 million from her employer, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, Monica Svobodny, 51, worked as the Supply Chain and Engineering Manager at Sico, Inc, a furniture and home furnishing manufacturing company located in Edina, Minnesota. Svobodny used her position to embezzle funds and convert them to her own use and benefit.

According to court documents, Svobodny regularly used company credit cards for unauthorized personal expenses such as designer clothing, spa services, and luxury hotel stays.  To cover her fraud, she left unapproved credit card expenses as “pending” for accounting purposes. On more than 300 occasions, she used company cards to transfer funds to herself via PayPal to cover personal expenses. Svobodny also edited PayPal transaction receipts and fraudulently listed some of the expenses as payments to a defunct company.

In total, Svobodny knowingly and willfully embezzled more than $1,137,000 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.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea A. Walcker is prosecuting the case.

The charges contained in the information are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.