Destiny McKayla Combs, 37, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison followed by 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 access to company finances to carry out the scheme.
“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 show that Combs managed both companies’ finances for about nine years and was considered a trusted member of management. In 2022, the owner agreed to sell the surrogacy agency to Combs upon his retirement in 2023; however, she resigned abruptly and moved to Florida before the sale could take place.
Investigators determined that between February 2019 and June 2023, Combs stole approximately $2.72 million by using company funds to pay off personal credit card bills incurred through gambling activities. She disguised these payments as business expenses in company records and made nearly 292 payments totaling over $2.7 million from company accounts to her personal American Express card.
While awaiting trial under pretrial supervision, Combs violated court-imposed travel restrictions by making unauthorized trips to several cities including New York City; Tucson, Arizona; Miami, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Seattle, Washington.
Judge John M. Gerrard presided over sentencing in U.S. District Court and cited Combs’s repeated violations during pretrial release—including multiple trips to Las Vegas—in determining her sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew C. Murphy prosecuted the case.
