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Federal Embezzlement Charges

Federal embezzlement can take a lot of different forms.  Usually what I this type of federal crime is somebody is working for a business or company and they're in a position of trust, and they divert funds into their own bank account.

I don't know why people do this.  Usually how it gets uncovered is when there's an audit done by the business and they figure out that the money is going into an employee or manager's account, and they're obviously not entitled to that money.  They then call the FBI in or the feds and they come in and investigate the case or arrest the person.

Punishment for Embezzlement

As far as what they're facing when they're looking at these federal embezzlement charges, a lot of it has to do with what their criminal record is, how much money they took, what the value is of it, what means they used to take the money.

These are all going to determine enhancements that apply when it comes to federal sentencing and the federal guidelines, and some of these enhancements could mean years in federal prison.

So, if you find yourself facing a federal embezzlement charge, I think the best bet is not to talk to anybody in your company, not to talk to anybody in law enforcement, get to a federal criminal defense attorney quick.  Be honest with them.  Tell them what happened.  Tell them what your involvement is, if any, and let them do the talking for you.

Let them strategize the case.  Let them figure out exactly what you're going to say and what you're not going too say.  Let them reach out to law enforcement, and hopefully if there's a prosecutor on the case who is the other side of the equation for the government — the attorney that will be dealing with the case — let them reach out to that person and talk to the and see what that person has to say about the case.

Developing a Defense Strategy

Then you'll sit down with your advocate and decide what your game plan is going to be moving forward.  This is always the best way to handle things.  I very rarely see people talking to the government, giving them information, trying to cooperate with their employer and ending up with a good result because both those entities — the government and your employer — in a federal embezzlement case are looking to get you to say something incriminating so they can later use that against you, and that's usually the best evidence they have — something from your own mouth.

A lot of times they twist what you say, warp it, and you say no, I didn't say it; no, I didn't mean it that way  Too late.  They've already got a statement from you and they're trying to use it against you in conjunction with whatever other evidence they've' got against you.

So, it's never a good idea, in my experience, to talk to law enforcement, your work or anybody from the government if you're being investigated for a federal embezzlement case.  Get you attorney and let your attorney guide you through the process.

Restitution in Embezzlement Cases

One of the biggest things that can help you in a federal embezzlement case is paying the money back, and unfortunately, I see it time and time again that people can't pay the money back.  You question what did they do with the money?  Where did it go?  But regardless, if you can't pay the money back, you really put yourself in a tough position.

If you have the money or you can sell a house or borrow the money, you're in a much stronger position to put the alleged victim back in the place they were before you embezzled the money and that will go a long way with the federal prosecutor and with the judge when it comes time to decide what charges you're going to have to plead to, what you're going to have to admit, what loss you're looking at, what restitution you're looking at, and ultimately, what your sentence is going to be.

These federal sentences are very serious because you have to serve 85% of the time versus a lot of the state courts where you don't have to serve that much of the time depending on how crowded the jail or prison population is.

So, pick up the phone now.  Make the call.  I've done a lot of federal embezzlement cases over the last twenty-five years.  I'm sure I can guide you and lead you to the best resolution in your federal criminal embezzlement matter.

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