Embezzlement: The Corporate Fraud Investigation – Atlanta Georgia

Now, most of us hear the word embezzlement or the phrase corporate fraud investigation and instantly think big business. Large publicly traded companies such as Enron, Coke or AT&T come to mind. The truth is that these “big” words describe a simple and far too common act of employee dishonesty. Corporate fraud is defined as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation”. In other words it’s anyone who uses their job, position or standing in order to commit a crime. Embezzlement is defined as “the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted”, sounds like a simple case of employee theft to me.

Embezzlement is often performed in a manner that is premeditated, systematic and methodical, with the conscious intent to conceal the activities from coworkers or superiors, usually because it is being done without their knowledge or consent. Often it involves the trusted person embezzling only a small proportion of money at a time, in an attempt to minimize the risk of detection. If done properly, and by ‘properly’ I mean underhanded and sneaky enough, embezzlement can continue for years, or even decades, without detection. This is why corporate fraud and employee theft in general can be so dangerous to a company.

So, why the big word ‘embezzlement’? Why not just call it stealing? Well, because they’re 2 distinct differences in the two. Embezzlement requires conversion, or a misappropriation of funds. Stealing is straight-forward theft by someone who had no business with the money or property.

Embezzlement is performed by someone who had the right and necessity to handle the money or property but simply decided to use those funds for their own personal gain. This and other corporate fraud crimes can be difficult to understand, that’s why I would advise consulting a lawyer or other experts in the field.

For more information about corporate fraud investigation or corporate fraud investigator or employee theft or employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us at corporate fraud investigation or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia