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Complaint: Former Racine County parks manager embezzled nearly $336K from villages

Complaint: Former Racine County parks manager embezzled nearly $336K from villages

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A former parks manager could spend up to 110 years in prison for allegedly embezzling nearly $336,000 from two Racine County villages.

A Thursday news release from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue Office of Criminal Investigation said James F. Svoboda III was charged in Racine County with six felony counts of filing a false income-tax return, seven felony counts of theft, four felony counts of forgery, one felony count of business identity theft, one felony count of misconduct in public office and one misdemeanor count of theft.

Svoboda had been employed as the parks manager for the village of Caledonia and village of Mount Pleasant from 2013 through 2019. As parks manager, he oversaw all revenue functions for the parks, the cemetery, vendors and suppliers. The complaint said he embezzled $335,912 from people using park and cemetery services, used work accounts to have unauthorized work done on his private vehicles and used the villages’ Menards account to purchase supplies to build a four-seasons room on his house. Officials said he used the embezzled money for personal gifts, gambling and vacations.

Svoboda didn’t claim the embezzled money on his personal income tax returns from 2013-19, leading to the charges related to filing a false income-tax return.

The charges are the result of an investigation and referral of charges by the Mount Pleasant Police Department and special agents from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue Office of Criminal Investigation. Svoboda faces up to 110 years in prison, a $230,000 fine or both if he’s convicted.

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