Sonya Hesenius, Embezzlement, Georgia 2024

ATLANTA – In a shocking turn of events, Sonya Hesenius, a former office manager and executive assistant for a company in Alpharetta, Georgia, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for embezzling over $8.5 million from her employer between 2015 and 2020.

Hesenius, 60, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was entrusted with handling the financial responsibilities for the company where she worked. However, she chose to steal from the company, using company funds to pay for expensive, overseas vacations for herself and family members, plastic surgery, shopping binges at exclusive retail stores, and other exorbitant purchases.

According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, Hesenius made fraudulent charges on corporate credit cards and caused the company to reimburse her personal credit card for personal expenses. She coded and approved all the charges herself, withheld supporting documentation from the company, and disguised the unauthorized expenditures in the company’s accounting system as legitimate expenses.

Hesenius used the fraudulently obtained funds to live a lavish lifestyle, resulting in staggering losses to her employer. Her fraudulent activities included company expenditures for more than $172,000 on her daughter’s wedding, over $600,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue on items such as designer handbags, and over $460,000 for herself, family members, and friends to travel all over the world.

The FBI took the case seriously and worked to hold Hesenius accountable for her actions. “Hesenius worked in a position of trust for a company that expected her to honor that trust,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Instead, she chose to abuse it and her personal greed not only hurt the company, but everyone who worked for them.”

Hesenius was convicted on these charges on November 29, 2023, after she pleaded guilty. She was sentenced by U.S District Judge Victoria M. Calvert to six years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Hesenius was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,614,729.37.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. O’Neal prosecuted the case.

Related Federal Cases