Eden Prairie Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $1 Million from Employer

MINNEAPOLIS – An Eden Prairie woman has pleaded guilty to 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 a furniture manufacturing company located in Edina, Minnesota. Svobodny used her managerial position to embezzle funds and convert them to her own use and benefit. 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 over a period of seven years.

Svobodny pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to one count of wire fraud before Judge Ann D. Montgomery.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Edina Police Department with assistance from the FBI.

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