Charges: Woman embezzled $1.5M from Minneapolis marketing firm, bought $50K Rolex, trip to Europe

A Minneapolis marketing executive embezzled more than $1.5 million from her employer and spent the money on luxuries and travel, according to federal charges.

Danielle Terese Eisenbacher, 39, was arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with six counts each of wire fraud and money laundering, and one count of mail fraud in connection with alleged stealing from Little & Company.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Eisenbacher worked for more than five years, until October, for the company in various roles: director of operations, vice president of operations and chief operating officer, with responsibility for managing the company’s finances.

Company spokeswoman Amy Jackson said Friday that “as soon as we suspected expense fraud, we notified the authorities and have been working closely with them ever since. Some funds have been recovered from an insurance claim.”

Starting in October 2019, the charges say, Eisenbacher made unauthorized purchases with company credit cards including designer clothing, jewelry, furniture, personal travel and home renovations. Eisenbacher tried to conceal the thefts by creating false entries in company accounting records to make it look like the purchases were for legitimate business expenses.

Among the purchases were three Rolex watches ranging from $20,000 to $50,000, a Cartier watch for $10,000, a $19,000 necklace and a $10,000 bracelet. She also bought with the stolen money two zip-up pouches from Prada Spa in Italy, and flights from the Twin Cities to Denver and Portugal.

Eisenbacher remains free on a personal recognizance bond ahead of a May 30 court appearance. A message was left with her attorney Friday seeking a response to the allegations.