Category : embezzlement

Know How a California Criminal Lawyer Can Help You

California Penal Code Section 503 defines the crime of embezzlement as the “fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted”. Basically this means you have taken property that someone has entrusted you with and used it for your own personal benefit. Embezzlement crimes are also referred to as employee theft or employee fraud. Depending on the value of the money or goods taken, you can be charged with either a petty theft crime or a grand theft crime.
Penalties

·    Penalties for theft crimes in California are set forth under California Penal Code Sections  487 and 503-515 as follows:
·    Theft crimes involving values less than $950 are considered petty theft crimes and carry up to six months jail time and a $1,000 fine.
·    Theft crimes involving values over $950 are considered grand theft crimes and penalties range from up to one year jail time and a maximum $1,000 fine to 16 months, or two or three years jail time and a maximum $10,000. When property taken belongs to a state, county or city government, the theft is a felony crime.

Case Example

On October 7, 2010, Susan Elaine Nash, 43, of Redding, CA was arrested at her home on the 2700 block of Alfreda Way at 10:35 a.m. on suspicion of embezzling approximately $27,000 from her former employer, OES Sheet Metal between December 2009 and June 2010. The owner reported Ms. Nash’s possible embezzlement to police in June 2010. Ms. Nash worked as the bookkeeper at OES Sheet Metal. Redding Police Department Financial Crimes Unit alleges that Nash wrote 37 separate checks made out to her and then cashed them at the local market without the business owner’s knowledge. Police reported that she has confessed to stealing the funds. She has been booked into the Shasta County jail instead of posting a $10,000 bail.
Defenses

If you are charged with embezzlement, you should hire a California criminal defense attorney to defend you. The attorney may be able to fight the crime by questioning evidence leading to conclusions that you may have committed the crime and claiming you are a victim and that  someone is trying to blame you for the crime. You may also be able to work out a plea agreement for restitution or agreeing to return the funds to the party you took them from in exchange for them agreeing to drop the charges against you or getting the charges reduced to a lesser crime. For crimes involving $50 or less, the charges may be reduced to an infraction and a $250 fine.

President Bush Pardons Fourteen Convicted Felons

On Nov. 24, President George W. Bush issued pardons for 14 convicted felons and sentenced commutations for two other individuals. None of the more famous applicants were among this group, but there are two remaining months of the presidential administration in which their requests may be granted.

Garden-Variety Crimes, Including Drug Offense, Embezzlement

The individuals who received clemency had committed the following crimes:

• income tax evasion
• drug offenses—e.g., abetting the distribution of cocaine in one case
• embezzlement
• unauthorized use of a pesticide
• illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit
• misapplication of bank funds by a bank officer

The two sentence commutations (shortening) were for drug crimes.

Counterterrorism Participants Not Yet Granted Clemency

A question that has not been answered by these latest grants is whether President Bush will issue “blanket” pardons for all of the many administration officials and intelligence officers who participated in torture-related activities and counterterrorism programs such as the al Qaeda interrogations.

The only well-known recipient of President Bush’s clemency powers is I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in 2007. His sentence was commuted last year.

Other “celebrity” felons awaiting an answer to their pardon/commutation requests are:

• Olympic athlete Marion Jones
• The “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh
• Former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham

Relatively Few Pardons and Commutations So Far
To date, President Bush has granted eight sentence commutations and 171 pardons, which is less than half as many as those issued separately by two-term Presidents Clinton and Reagan. According to White House spokesman Carlton Carroll, President Bush “will continue to carefully review clemency requests and make determinations on a case-by-case basis.”

(Source: New York Times)

Do You Need Legal Help? If you’re interested in obtaining a presidential pardon or sentence commutation for yourself or a family member, contact us to speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney in your area.