Simply put, embezzlement or employee theft is stealing from your employer. Embezzlement is considered a white collar crime. It's the type of crime that has to involve someone with inside knowledge of someone's finances, because it usually involves moving money around in different accounts which need passwords and so forth. A crime that can accompany embezzlement is identity theft.
Few people, regardless of the amount of money you make, are immune to embezzlement. Even the wealthy can have problems with family members when it comes to embezzlement. The half brother of comedian Dane Cook has pleaded not guilty to embezzling millions from the comedian and was ordered held on $3 million bail. Darryl McCauley was arraigned Wednesday at Woburn District Court on charges including forgery and larceny. Prosecutors alleged that McCauley, 43, stole the money from Cook while being paid $12,500 a month to act as business manager for Great Dane Enterprises, Inc. Prosecutors accused McCauley of transferring funds from Cook's business accounts to his personal accounts between July 2007 and December 2008. In one instance, McCauley forged a $3 million check written from Cook's account to himself, investigators said.
By definition, embezzlement is the "illegal transfer of money or property for personal use." The significant difference between embezzlement (employee theft) and other kinds of theft is that embezzled property is legally possessed or accessed by the person doing the embezzling; usually as part of the job responsibilities.
