Minnesota Accountant Gambles Away $2.7M, Gets 51 Months

MINNEAPOLIS – Destiny McKayla Combs, 37, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced yesterday to 51 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for a brazen embezzlement scheme. Combs, formerly the Accounting Manager for a Minnesota surrogacy agency and affiliated law firm, systematically stole over $2.7 million from her employer, then blew it on online gambling.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson didn’t mince words. “Combs treated her workplace like her own personal slot machine,” he stated. “This isn’t an isolated incident. 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 reveal Combs enjoyed nearly a decade of unchecked access to the companies’ finances. For approximately nine years, she was solely responsible for managing all financial matters, including taxes and financial statements. Her level of trust was so high that the owner had planned to sell the agency to her upon his retirement in 2023. Instead, Combs abruptly resigned and fled to Florida as the sale date neared, leaving a trail of deceit in her wake.

The scheme, spanning from February 2019 to June 2023, was disturbingly simple. Combs funded her gambling habit with personal credit cards, then used company funds to cover the bills. A meticulous review of company records showed 292 payments, totaling $2,723,025, funneled from company accounts to her American Express card. She masked these transactions as legitimate business expenses, exploiting the autonomy afforded to her position. The stolen funds were then lost to her online gambling addiction.

But the brazenness didn’t stop there. While awaiting trial and under the supervision of pretrial services, Combs repeatedly lied to her probation officer and flagrantly violated the terms of her release. She embarked on unauthorized trips to New York City, Tucson, Arizona, Miami, Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Seattle, Washington – multiple of which were return trips to Las Vegas, a clear signal of her continued gambling compulsion.

Judge John M. Gerrard, during sentencing, specifically cited Combs’s disregard for court orders and her repeated visits to Las Vegas as aggravating factors. The investigation was a joint effort by the United States Secret Service and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Murphy prosecuted the case, securing a sentence that sends a clear message: stealing from those who trust you will have severe consequences.