Minnesota woman's gambling addiction leads to $2.7m fraud

• Pushed by a gambling habit, one Minnesota accountant embezzled more than $2.7m
• An investigation uncovered the stolen money, completed via nearly 300 separate transactions, which were covered up by the former accountant
• The woman was sentenced to 51 months in prison earlier this week

A woman, who stole nearly $3m to fund a gambling addiction, was recently sentenced in Minnesota.

The criminal case involves a 37-year-old woman who formerly served as an accountant to a surrogacy agency and affiliated law firm.

A total of $2,723,025 was embezzled

On Wednesday, the US Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, released details regarding the embezzlement case against Destiny McKayla Combs.

According to court documents, the 37-year-old woman was employed as an Accounting Manager for nearly 10 years at a surrogacy agency. She held the same role at an affiliated law firm.

Combs' responsibilities at the two businesses involved managing their entire finances, including financial statements and taxes.

In 2022, after proving herself an invaluable member of the team at the surrogacy agency, Combs was offered the option to purchase the business from its owner upon his retirement in 2023.

While she was a trusted member of the team, Combs unexpectedly resigned before the sale of the business and moved to Florida.

Subsequently, an investigation was launched, uncovering that while Combs held the role of Accounting Manager, she stole more than $2.7m.

The crime was committed between February 2019 and June 2023, according to court documents.

The former Accounting Manager's scheme to embezzle the funds was rather simple, as it involved using personal credit cards to gamble and then paying the bills for those credit cards with company money.

According to court documents, Combs stole money to fuel her online gambling addiction and she spent most of the money she embezzled from her former employer.

The investigation into her actions discovered that she made 292 payment transactions over the course of 52 months, stealing a total of $2,723,025.

While the embezzlement scheme wasn't elaborate, Combs covered her tracks by fabricating entries in the companies' records, the court said.

The woman was sentenced to more than four years in prison

Earlier this week, the US Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, announced the sentence of the 37-year-old woman.

While the criminal case was ongoing, Combs had to undergo supervision by pretrial services.

However, according to the court, the woman repeatedly lied to her probation officer and violated the terms of her release, taking trips to New York and Las Vegas, among other places.

This was recognized as a "flagrant violation of the travel restrictions" enforced by the court.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson said about the case: "Combs treated her workplace like her own personal slot machine."

On Tuesday this week, the 37-year-old woman was sentenced to 51 months in prison for the embezzlement.

After she serves her four years and three months prison sentence, Combs is set to undergo three years of supervised release, the U.S. District Court ordered.

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