Mr. Ferragut's High-Profile Cases Have Been Featured On:
Get Your Free Case Evaluation Now
Time Is Of The Essence – Hiring An Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ
Facing a charge of embezzlement is an extremely severe issue and definitely one in which you would want to retain an Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ. From a lawful viewpoint if you are found guilty, you could end up with penalties and/or time in jail or prison, depending on how severe the criminal offense is, judged by the amount of the theft. From an individual perspective, there are lots of concerns that will certainly need to be taken care of if you are found guilty. The largest individual difficulties you will possibly deal with are that you may feel like you let your self down as well as people you keep company with. Your family and friends might really feel sad for you, or they might really feel incredibly let down in you and might wish to abandon the partnership with you, temporarily or maybe permanently.
Yet, if you truly are not guilty or there are extenuating situations (such as somebody made you do it) you most definitely need to have a solid defense. Only a highly experienced Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ can make that case for you. Below we will now discuss what embezzlement is, exactly how you can get charged with it, whether it is a felony in Arizona, as well as how you can prevent 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 normally thought to be the abuse of or the misuse of someone’s placement or capacity in a trusted position that manages funds as well as various other possessions apart from their own. For example, if you are a controller or a bookkeeper in a corporation or a charity, you are in a position that manages, either directly or indirectly, the individual’s or business entity’s funds as well as various other properties. Even if you sell items such as candy or various other services or products for another person and also deal with the cash directly, you remain in a setting of managing another person’s or entity’s money.
That cash comes from the individual or entity that you are holding it or handling it for. Additionally, there are certain standards, both spoken as well as unspoken, that you as the caregiver of those assets (which could be money or products, as an example) that you should follow.
What is Embezzlement (continued)
Let’s say that you are helping with the Girl Scouts selling cookies and you have actually been provided 5 box cases of Girls Scout cookies to market. You sell 2.5 cases of them in the time duration that’s set aside to market them, which means you have the cash for the 2.5 cases you sold and also you still have 2.5 cases in your possession. You give all of the cash you collected plus all of the extra boxes left over to your contact for the Girl Scouts. Everything is great since you have actually not abused any of the funds or items.
Now, consider you were having a tough time economically and also you said in your mind “I will only use a bit of that cash and then give it back when it is time. I will be able to get it at that time.” Is that a negative thing? Yes, it definitely is! This is an example of embezzlement. You were in a placement of trust as well as a caregiver for properties that do not belong to your person. Therefore, this misdirection of funds is taken into consideration to be embezzlement. If you take any of those possessions for individual use ‘at any moment’ you are making use of money that does not belong to you. Even if you intended on returning it when it scheduled – you still did it. This is never ever a positive suggestion, not even if you do pay the cash back in a timely manner. You should in all times keep that cash entirely separate from your personal money. Co-mingling of funds like that is just not a good thing to do.
Bringing that to a corporate level, there are much more means to abuse or misuse funds or properties in a company, charitable, or government entity setting. This type of issue happens more regularly than you would certainly think, and a few of these cases become high profile (this means they are covered by one or more news sources such as radio stations, TV, news papers, as well as much more). Embezzlement on a company or non-profit degree means that an individual has actually taken properties (usually cash but it can also be products or services) and also utilized them, without authority, for personal gain. Sometimes these funds are misdirected to a personal account, yet more intricate embezzlement plans do exist and also happen.
Embezzlement can additionally be carried out by more than a single individual, specifically from a planning standpoint. Regardless of the number of individuals are involved, all of them are doing something unlawful and can be charged with a criminal activity.
Exactly How Can I Get Charged with Embezzlement and Would I Need an Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ?
You can be charged and also require an Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ if you are under suspicion of acting on any type of deceptive task with some other individual’s or entity’s funds that have actually been misdirected as well as used for your individual use. It doesn’t matter if you utilized them to aid a pal or family member or you personally profited. You used them unlawfully.
Lot of times it can take years that criminal cases are brought up, particularly in cases where a controller or a bookkeeper had straight access to assets as well as the company was lax regarding having their books audited regularly. What occurs in this situation sometimes is the embezzler begins slowly taking a few dollars out each time. After that due to the fact that they haven’t been found out yet, greed can embed in so they start obtaining more money. Their employer at some point will catch on and start to examine the possible issue. They will possibly call in an auditor to see what’s taking place and the auditor hopefully easily finds the path of theft that leads back to the individual that did it. This process can take years as a result of exactly how this kind of criminal offense can play out. It all simply relies on the scenarios of the theft, the financial controls of the business, and also when and also if the business’s officers discover the potential losses they are experiencing.
When this occurs, police officers are called in, they collect all of the facts that they can, as well as issue a warrant for the apprehension of the person or people involved in the crime. Then you will definitely want to call the best and top rated Surprise, AZ Embezzlement Lawyer.
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 no charge, and you will discover important things that will help you defend the charges against you.
Is Embezzlement a Felony in Arizona?
This is a terrific question. Due to the nature of the criminal activity, you could believe that it is a felony in all cases. Nonetheless, there are cases that it is simply a misdemeanor in Arizona. Yet, even a misdemeanor can lead to penalties and jail time, although it will not lead to a felony record. Embezzlement in Arizona will certainly be a misdemeanor if the value of the theft is $1,000 or less, which can have a punishment of as much as 6 months in jail. Any type of embezzlement or burglary quantities higher than that will certainly be a felony if convicted, the class of which is figured out by the amount of the burglary. Felony cases can vary anywhere between a Class 6 felony for $1,000 to $2,000 in stolen items, with consequences of approximately 2 years behind bars (that’s prison, not jail) to a Class 2 felony for more than $25,000 of burglary of cash and/or goods. The consequences for that are between 3 and 12.5 years in prison.
Exactly How Can I Defend Myself Against an Embezzlement case?
There are numerous reasons people do things they do, as well as there are times when it looks like a person is doing something unlawful as well as they are accused of that in their arrest, however the intent or real circumstance was completely more complicated than it appeared.
Take the Girl Scouts instance from above. Let’s say you utilized the money to acquire pizza for the local Scouts and also you were allowed to do so from a person higher up. Then something takes place to that individual and also someone new takes over control yet was unaware of the permission. They call the police and charge you for fraud. However no theft actually happened since you used it for the girls, as well as you had permission, despite the fact that the proper communication was not there. In this circumstance, your charges would most likely be dismissed since there was no intent to misuse or abuse the funds and there was consent to use them for the purpose they were.
There are other potential legitimate defenses versus embezzlement also, such as the issue stated above where someone else was requiring the activities upon the person that remained in the position of monetary responsibility. All of these are tackled on a situational basis, and also you need to have a really strong protection on your side in order to beat fees like these. If all the proof points to you and you were in that placement of financial responsibility, only the toughest defense by the best and leading Embezzlement Lawyer in Surprise, AZ can aid you with your your rights in court.