Eden Prairie woman, 51, sentenced for embezzling from employer

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — An Eden Prairie woman will spend two years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from her employer, federal officials say.
Monica Svobodny, 51, will also have two years of supervised release and need to pay over $1.1 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. Svobodny was sentenced Thursday. 
According to court documents, Svodbodny worked as a supply chain and engineering manager at Sico, Inc., which is a furniture and home furnishing manufacturing company in Edina.
The attorney’s office says she used her position as manager to embezzle funds and use them for her own benefit. Svobodny allegedly used company credit cards for personal expenses like designer clothing and luxury hotel stays.
She listed unapproved credit card expenses as “pending” for accounting purposes in an effort to cover her fraud, federal officials say.
Svobodny also used company cards to transfer funds to herself through PayPal to cover personal expenses. The attorney’s office said this happened over 300 times.
The attorney’s office says she embezzled over $1,137,000 over a seven-year period. 
In April, Svobodny pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. 
The investigation in this case was done by Edina police with assistance from FBI Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca E. Kline.