When it comes to white-collar crimes, one common example is embezzlement. This is often carried out by accountants, financial professionals, corporate executives and many others in relatively high-level professional positions.
In some senses, embezzlement is just a form of theft. Most often, the person is stealing financial assets from their own employer. For instance, an accountant may transfer assets to a personal bank account and then alter the numbers on the financial statements to hide the transaction. Not only are they committing theft, but they are attempting to cover it up and hoping that no one will notice that it has occurred.
But embezzlement is a bit different than traditional types of theft, as it is the misappropriation of assets – not just the illegal taking of those assets.
How is misappropriation different?
With many lower-level theft cases, a person is accused of illegally accessing and taking assets for themselves. Someone who robs a gas station by telling the worker that they have a firearm should never have had access to the money in the till in the first place.
However, misappropriation is different because the person committing the crime does have legal access to the funds. The hypothetical accountant mentioned above is authorized to access the business’s financial accounts. The problem is just how they use those funds – misappropriating them for financial gain rather than carrying out the duties of their employment.
This can make it into a rather complex crime, considering details like electronic funds transfers and financial documents. Those who are facing such allegations must know about all of their legal defense options.