Former Alpharetta Office Manager Sentenced to Prison for $8.5 Million Embezzlement Scheme
Former office manager and executive assistant, Sonya Hesenius, from Alpharetta, Georgia, has been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling over $8.5 million from her employer between 2015 and 2020.
U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan stated, “Hesenius will now be held accountable for her flagrant theft of millions of dollars from her employer to support a lavish lifestyle.” Buchanan added, “Hesenius was entrusted with handling the financial responsibilities for the company where she worked. But she chose to steal from the company, blatantly 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.”
Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, commented, “Hesenius worked in a position of trust for a company that expected her to honor that trust. Instead, she chose to abuse it and her personal greed not only hurt the company, but everyone who worked for them. This sentence should send the message that the FBI takes wire fraud extremely seriously and will work to hold offenders accountable.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, Hesenius, who worked as an office manager and executive assistant at a company in Alpharetta, Georgia, made fraudulent charges on corporate credit cards and caused the company to reimburse her personal credit card for personal expenses. She concealed her scheme by coding and approving all charges herself and disguising unauthorized expenditures in the company’s accounting system as legitimate expenses.
Hesenius used the fraudulently obtained funds for extravagant personal expenses, including her daughter’s wedding, shopping at luxury stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, extensive travel, private jet trips, sports events, furniture, plastic surgery, and cash transfers. In total, she embezzled $8,614,729.37.
Sonya Hesenius, 60, from St. Petersburg, Florida, was sentenced by U.S District Judge Victoria M. Calvert to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,614,729.37. Hesenius pleaded guilty on November 29, 2023.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
