Embezzlement is the crime of stealing funds of property of an employer, company, or government. It may also mean money or assets held in a trust account. It is the illegal transfer or money, or property, which is diverted from the employer to the embezzler. The fraudulent intent required for embezzlement is the intent to deprive the owner of the property or where the property is diverted to the embezzler’s own use. Even where a person intended to eventually return the property, it is still embezzlement.



California Penal Code Section 503 reads,

“Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted."

Embezzlement takes many forms. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. Examples include a store clerk who takes money from the register and puts it in their own pocket, or it could mean a bank manager stealing customer deposit receipts and account information, and then siphoning bank money into his own pocket.

California Penal Code Section 487 reads:

“Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:

Where the money, labor, or real or personal property is taken by a servant, agent, or employee from his or her principal or employer and aggregates four hundred dollars ($400) or more in any 12 consecutive month period."

Embezzlement is considered grand theft and is usually punished as a felony. Generally, grand theft is usually punishable up to one year in the county jail or a maximum sentence of 16 months, 2, or 3 years in state prison. The preceding terms are referred to as the “low, mid, and high." The California Legislature has stated that the middle term is the appropriate sentence to give out in a felony case, unless mitigating or aggravating circumstances exists which would merit a lower or higher sentence. For example, an aggravating circumstance occurs where an embezzlement victim is elderly, or dependent, thus justifying the imposition of the high term. An example of a mitigating circumstance would be where the embezzler makes full restitution to the victim, so long as it is prior to the information being laid down before the magistrate or the grand jury’s indictment for embezzlement. It is in the judge’s discretion to alter the sentencing scheme in light of the weight of the mitigating circumstances.

However, unless it is specifically precluded by a statute, a judge can sentence a convicted felon to a grant of probation. Among other things, the court may require the defendant, as a term and condition of probation, to serve local jail time, pay fines, complete community service and pay restitution.