Destiny McKayla Combs, 37, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for embezzling more than $2.7 million from her employer, according to an announcement by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. Combs served as the Accounting Manager for a surrogacy agency and an affiliated law firm, where she used her position to steal company funds over several years.
“Combs treated her workplace like her own personal slot machine,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “Combs’s crime is part of a disturbing wave of fraud sweeping across Minnesota. From private companies to public programs, fraud has seeped into every corner of our state. We will continue to attack this fraud plague with everything we’ve got at the federal level.”
Court documents indicate that Combs managed the finances for both businesses for about nine years and was trusted enough that the owner agreed to sell the surrogacy agency to her upon his retirement in 2023. However, before the sale could take place, Combs resigned abruptly and moved to Florida.
An investigation revealed that between February 2019 and June 2023, Combs transferred approximately $2.72 million from company accounts to pay off personal credit card bills linked to online gambling activities. She disguised these payments as business expenses in company records and made nearly 292 transactions totaling $2,723,025 during a period of about four years.
While awaiting trial under pretrial supervision, Combs violated court-imposed travel restrictions by visiting several cities including New York City; Tucson, Arizona; Miami; Las Vegas; and Seattle without notifying or receiving authorization from her probation officer.
Judge John M. Gerrard presided over the sentencing in U.S. District Court and cited Combs’s repeated violations while on pretrial release—including unauthorized trips—as factors in determining her sentence.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Murphy prosecuted the case.
