Mr. Ferragut's High-Profile Cases Have Been Featured On:
Get Your Free Case Evaluation Now
Time Is Of The Essence – Hiring An Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ
Facing a charge of embezzlement is a really serious concern and definitely one in which you would want to locate an Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ. From a lawful viewpoint if you are found guilty, you might wind up with fines and/or jail or prison time, depending upon just how serious the crime is, evaluated by the quantity of the things or money stolen. From a personal point of view, there are several problems that will have to be managed if you are found to be guilty. The greatest individual challenges you will most likely face are that you may feel like you let your self down along with the people you keep company with. Your family and friends may really feel sad for you, or they may really feel incredibly let down in you as well as might wish to desert the relationship with you, temporarily or maybe permanently.
However, if you actually are blameless or there are extenuating conditions (such as a person made you do it) you certainly need to have a terrific defense case. Only a terrific Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ can make that defense for you. Here we will discuss what embezzlement is, how you can be charged with it, whether it is a felony in Arizona, and exactly how you can defend against the charge.
For your personal knowledge, here is a page from the Arizona court system with a lot of useful information about what to expect in a criminal trial.
What is Embezzlement?
Embezzlement is typically thought to be the abuse of or the misuse of a person’s setting or capability in a trusted setting that handles funds as well as various other properties aside from their own. For instance, if you are a controller or an accountant in a company or a charity, you remain in a placement that deals with, either in a direct manner or indirectly, the person’s or organizational entity’s funds as well as various other assets. Even if you market things such as candy or various other services or products for somebody else and also deal with the money directly, you are in a placement of managing another individual’s or entity’s cash.
That money belongs to the individual or entity that you are holding it or managing it for. Additionally, there are certain guidelines, both spoken and unspoken, that you as the caregiver of those properties (which could be cash or products, for example) that need to be adhered to.
What is Embezzlement (continued)
Let’s state that you are helping with the Girl Scouts selling cookies and you have been given 5 box cases of Girls Scout cookies to sell. You sell 2.5 cases of them in the time period that’s allotted to offer them, which suggests you have the money for the 2.5 cases you offered as well as you still have 2.5 cases of them left. You give all of the cash you accumulated plus all of the extra boxes left over to your contact for the Girl Scouts. Everything is great because you have actually not abused any of the funds or items.
Now, consider you were having a hard time economically as well as you said to yourself “I will certainly just use a bit of that money and then pay it back when it is time. I ought to have the ability to get it by then.” Is that a bad thing to do? Yes, it absolutely is! This is an instance of embezzlement. You were in a position of trust and a caretaker for properties that do not belong to you. As a result, this theft is considered to be embezzlement. If you take any of those possessions for individual usage ‘at any moment’ you are utilizing money that does not belong to you. Even if you intended on returning it when it scheduled – you still committed the act. This is never ever a good concept, not even if you do get the money back in a timely manner. You must in any way possible and at all times keep that cash totally separate from your personal money. Co-mingling of funds like that is just not a good idea to do.
Bringing that to a corporate level, there are even more ways to abuse or misuse funds or possessions in an organization, non-profit, or federal, state, or local government entity setting. This type of issue occurs more often than you would believe, and also a few of these situations end up being high profile (meaning they are covered by potentially several news sources such as radio stations, TV, newspapers, and more). Embezzlement on a company or charitable level suggests that a person has actually taken possessions (typically money or it could additionally be products or services) and also used them, without authority, for personal advantage. Often times these funds are misdirected to a personal account, however much more fancy embezzlement schemes also exist.
Embezzlement can likewise be performed by more than one person, particularly from a planning viewpoint. Regardless of how many people are included, every one of them are doing something prohibited and can be charged with a criminal offense.
Just How Can I Become Charged with Embezzlement and Would I Need an Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ?
You can be charged and need an Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ if you are under suspicion of committing any kind of fraudulent activity with another individual’s or entity’s funds that have actually been misdirected and used for your personal usage. It matters not if you utilized them to aid a pal or family member or you personally benefited. You utilized them unlawfully.
Many times it can take years before criminal cases are brought up, specifically in cases where a controller or a book keeper had direct accessibility to the books and also the firm was lax concerning having their books audited on a regular basis. What happens in this situation often times is the embezzler begins gradually stealing a few bits of cash out at once. After that since they have not been caught in the act yet, greed can embed in so they start securing even more money. Their manager ultimately catch on and begin to explore. They will possibly contact an auditor to see what’s going on as well as the auditor hopefully easily discovers the path of stolen cash or goods that leads back to the individual that did it. This procedure can take years due to exactly how this kind of criminal offense can play out. It all simply relies on the situations of the theft, the financial controls of the business, and when and if the company’s representatives discover the possible losses they are experiencing.
When this occurs, policemen are employed, they gather all of the evidence that they can, as well as issue a warrant for the apprehension of the person or people associated with the criminal activity. Then you will definitely want to call the best and top rated Guadalupe, AZ Embezzlement Defense Attorney.
Here is a page with many of our Case Results. Please feel free to take a look at all of the successful victories we have had for our clients over the years.
Ready to talk? Just call us today at 602-324-5300. The consultation is at no cost to you, and you will discover important things that will help you defend the charges.
Is Embezzlement a Felony in Arizona?
This is a really good question. As a result of the nature of the crime, you may believe that it is a felony in all cases. Nevertheless, there are cases that it is simply a misdemeanor in Arizona. However, just being charged with a misdemeanor can lead to fines and jail time, although it will not lead to a felony record. Embezzlement in Arizona will be a misdemeanor if the worth of the theft is under $1,000, which could have a penalty of as much as 6 months in jail. Any embezzlement or theft amounts greater than that will certainly be a felony, the class of which is figured out by the amount of the burglary. Felony cases can range anywhere between a Class 6 felony for $1,000 to $2,000 in stolen items, with repercussions of approximately 2 years behind bars (that’s prison, not jail) to a Class 2 felony for more than $25,000 of burglary of property. The repercussions for that are between 3 and 12.5 years in prison.
Just How Can I Defend Myself Against an Embezzlement arrest?
There are lots of reasons that individuals do things they do, as well as there are times when it looks like someone is doing something illegal and they are charged of that in their case, however the intent or real circumstance was completely different.
Let’s take the Girl Scouts instance from above. Let’s state you utilized the money to buy pizza for the local Girl Scouts and also you were allowed to do so from somebody higher up. Then something takes place to that individual as well as a new person needs to replace that person yet was not aware of the consent. They call the police and charge you for embezzlement. Yet no theft in fact happened due to the fact that you used it for the scouts, as well as you had permission, even though the proper interaction was not there. In this scenario, your charges would most likely be dropped due to the fact that there was no intent to misuse or abuse the funds as well as there was permission to utilize them for the function they were.
There are other possible genuine defenses versus embezzlement too, such as the issue stated above where another person was requiring the activities upon the individual that remained in the position of financial responsibility. All of these are handled on a case by case basis, and you need to have a very strong protection in your corner in order to beat charges like these. If all the evidence points to you and you were in that setting of trust, only the greatest criminal defense by the best and also top rated Embezzlement Defense Attorney in Guadalupe, AZ can protect your rights in court.