Articles Posted in Embezzlement

As a Michigan criminal defense lawyer, I have developed a fairly robust embezzlement/ larceny by false pretenses practice. I handle embezzlement and false pretenses cases brought in the Metro-Detroit area, meaning anywhere in Macomb, Oakland or Wayne Counties. While I have handled cases of all sizes, many of them have been high dollar cases involving hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have written a number of articles on this subject that address the mechanics of an embezzlement charge and examine things like the first call from a corporate official and/or a police detective through the interrogation process. There is, of course, a lot to all of that; anyone who even thinks that he or she may face an embezzlement or false pretenses charge would be well advised to read those articles. Perhaps the most significant thing to be learned from them is to keep quiet and not talk. Ironically, however, many people discover what I’ve written after they’ve been questioned and have already made self-incriminating statements.

To be clear, just remaining silent is no sure-fire way to make a potential embezzlement or false pretenses charge go away. In most cases, the investigation that leads to someone calling the police is usually rather thorough, and it frequently resembles the old notion that if you follow one single thread, you find a whole big mess. The reality is that most embezzlement and/or false pretenses cases aren’t based upon false charges, although the amount of money that winds up being claimed by the “victim” is often grossly overstated. The sentiment there is that the aggrieved party (victim) might as well throw in the kitchen sink, because there isn’t likely to be a very deep pool of sympathy for the person who gets charged. I understand that side of things, but I also know, from extensive experience, about the other, human side of story from the person accused of the crime. Facing an embezzlement/false pretenses charge can bring a sense of despair.

For all the legal and technical analysis we can undertake regarding an embezzlement or false pretenses charge, the real bottom line is that if you’re facing one, you need to save your skin. I can write endlessly about rights and evidence and the burden of proof and hearings and legal arguments, and all of that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, what matters most is what does, and even more so, what does NOT happen to you. This is particularly true when a person has, in fact, actually taken money or property, and then gets found out. I know that many people in these situations have labored under a desire, if not a belief, that they would find a way to pay the money back, or otherwise make things right.

This is an important, but often overlooked reality, because in the majority of cases I have handled, the person charged feels absolutely horrible. I have seldom dealt with anyone who didn’t feel a profound sense or remorse when things get discovered. In fact, one of the more common issues in an embezzlement or false pretenses case is that the person facing the charge or charges can become seriously emotionally overwhelmed. While this does not “fix” the case, or make it go away, an important part of my job is to use that genuine remorse in order to negotiate a better break from the prosecutor, and then later, to convince the Judge to take it easy on my client.
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Embezzlement cases have always been a large part of my Criminal Practice. Having handled countless Embezzlement charges in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, I’ve grown to like them. I have written a number of Embezzlement articles on this blog, and have given the subject a concise overview on my website. Instead of rehashing the whole process of being contacted by a Police Detective (or Loss Prevention person from a company) and how to assert your right to not incriminate yourself, all the way to how these cases are usually resolved, this article will focus more on why the investigation into an allegation of embezzlement is usually quite different in character from the investigation into any other alleged Criminal Offense.

In the first instance, there is almost never a situation where the Police discover “Embezzlement” without there having first been a report from an outside source. Other kinds of Criminal charges, such as DUI, or Possession of Controlled Substances, or even Indecent Exposure, are discovered, or “happened upon” by the Police as part of their routine patrols. That doesn’t happen with Embezzlement.

Most often, an employer suspects Embezzlement by an employee after the discovery of something “strange.” Here is where the scenarios can be all over the map. In some cases, a little “skimming” may have gone unnoticed for years and years. In other cases, a suspected monetary shortfall is questioned, and irregularities turn up. Embezzlement charges can involve things from unauthorized charges on an employee charge card or expense account, to the distribution of funds through bogus checks, sales commissions paid, or merchandise obtained from “fake” sales, as well as just about anything else you can imagine where merchandise, money or “value” has been diverted from the employer.

Whatever else, Embezzlement charges arise because something “irregular” is noticed. I’ve seen cases where the person in a particular position has been out sick, or transferred to another duty, and the new person covering their old position, in trying to figure out how to do things, has discovered that things don’t quite add up. Sometime, a business, while conducting an audit, finds the “blackjack math.” However it is found out, someone, somewhere, spots some detail that doesn’t seem right, and that becomes the spark that leads to a further inquiry.

Once that further inquiry begins, things usually fall together pretty quickly. Over the years, I’ve received loads of calls from people rather nervous about being contacted by their boss, or some “superior” from their company. As I explore what’s going on, I learn that usually, some financial irregularity has been discovered, and the employer has decided to dig deeper into things. Often, the person at the center of it all is hoping to come up with a sufficient explanation to cause the matter to be dropped, but in real life, that never happens. Once an employer finds that the math doesn’t add up, they’ll keep looking. After all, it’s not as if an employer finds out that its bank balance has been inexplicably credited with extra money from some unknown source. Once any normal person catches a whiff that they’re being shorted, they’ll follow that scent to wherever it leads.

At the point that an employer suspects someone particular of Embezzlement, things can go in many different directions. In a smaller workplace, there is often an immediate confrontation with the suspected employee. In larger companies, the employee may have no idea he or she is being investigated. Companies large enough to have a Loss Prevention Department may set up surveillance of the person, and let them continue to work, unaware that their actions are being closely watched.
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In almost every Michigan Embezzlement case, a Police Detective first contacts the person who is ultimately charged before any charges are ever brought. In my role as a Criminal Defense Lawyer, I am frequently contacted right after someone receives their first call from the Police. Nervous, and wondering what to do (as well as what not to do), they find my website section about Embezzlement or my various articles on the subject. They read a little, then, they call my Office.

If you’ve been contacted by the Police, then you know that sinking feeling. If you’ve actually talked with a Detective, you likely hung up the phone scared out of your wits, and knowing you need help. I hate anything that sounds like scare tactics, but it’s just a fact that if you are facing a potential Embezzlement charge, you need competent and specialized legal protection. I provide that.

I really can’t remember when or why Embezzlement cases became such a mainstay of my Criminal Practice, but in the last number of years, I’ve handled countless such cases in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties. It seems that I have a certain aptitude and skill in handling these cases, and those qualities are repeatedly honed by frequent experience handling them. And for all of that, I rather like these cases…

Part of this, I think, has to do with my attitude and disposition toward my Clients. I’ve seen Embezzlement cases of every kind and stripe, from the simple to the complex. I’ve handled cases where a “little” bit of money didn’t make it into the employer’s deposit, until it added up to a substantial amount, to situations where goods or services were sent, or payments were made, to fictional persons or companies. In fact, if you can imagine it, I’ve probably seen it. Whatever else, a person dealing with an Embezzlement case needs to have a Lawyer who is non-judgmental and works to make things better for them.

In order to make things better, however, I have to assume the role of a diplomat. Many of the cases I handle are pretty clear-cut, and the evidence against my Client is pretty strong. In these cases, I have to be able to work with the Prosecutor and the Detective in charge of the case, and, most importantly, with the Judge, in order to make things materially better for my Client. And make no mistake about it, “better” means no Jail.

In other cases, a vindictive former employer may be driving the charge against a person, or, if there’s anything to the charge, at least ratcheting up the amount of money involved. This can be tricky. A person may be on the hook for “X” amount of money. Yet when the former employer, who, in an embezzlement case, is called the “victim,” claims losses more than that, the sympathy factor for the Defendant is pretty low, and he or she has a hard time being heard. Nobody is really worried that the “bad guy” (or gal) is being overcharged, legally or financially. Except me; I am.
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