Embezzlement
The Top 10 Embezzlement Cases In Modern US History
Massive Meatpacking Misappropriation
Victim Organization: Day-Lee Foods, Inc., Santa Fe Springs, California
Amount: $132 million in 2010 dollars ($85 – $95 million actual)
Perpetrator: Yasuyoshi Kato
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Year Discovered: 1997
Duration: 6+ years (1991 – 1997)
Scheme: Fraudulent/forged checks
Age Scheme Began: 33
Beverly Hills Bank Blowout
Victim Organization: Guarantee Building & Loan Association, Hollywood, California
Amount: $100 million in 2010 dollars ($7,661,793 actual)
Perpetrator: Gilbert H. Beesemyer
Position: Founder, General Secretary and Manager
Year Discovered: December 1930
Duration: Undetermined, but believed to be less than one year
Scheme: Took overdrafts for himself
Age Scheme Began: 45
BankBoston Carrasco Fiasco
Victim Organization: BankBoston Corp., Boston, Massachusetts
Amount: $97.7 million in 2010 dollars ($73 million actual)
Perpetrator: Ricardo S. Carrasco
Position: Head of BankBoston International in NYC
Year Discovered: 1998
Duration: Undetermined
Scheme: Fraudulent loan scheme
Age Scheme Began: 41
Treacherous Taking from Ayer’s Heirs
Victim Organization: Tenens Corp., dba Essex Street Associates, Beverly, Massachusetts
Amount: $72.3 million in 2010 dollars ($61 million actual)
Perpetrator: John F. “Jack” Doorly
Position: Chief Operating Officer
Year Discovered: March 2006
Duration: 7 years (1999 – 2006)
Scheme: Fraudulent transfers and vendor fraud
Age Scheme Began: 48
Extraordinary Electronics Embezzlement
Victim Organization: Fry’s Electronics, San Jose, California
Amount: $69 million in 2010 dollars ($65.6 million actual)
Perpetrator: Ausaf Umar Siddiqui
Position: Vice President of Merchandising and Operations
Year Discovered: 2008
Duration: 4 years (1/05 – 11/08)
Scheme: Vendor fraud; kickbacks
Age Scheme Began: 39
Wells Fargo Float Fraud (or Beverly Hills Bank Blowout II)
Victim Organization: Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, California
Amount: $64 million in 2010 dollars ($21.3 million actual)
Perpetrator: Lloyd Benjamin Lewis
Position: Operations Officer (Beverly Drive branch, LA)
Year Discovered: January 1981
Duration: 3 years (1977 – 1981)
Scheme: Fraudulent electronic funds transfers
Age Scheme Began: 44
Engineering an Enormous Embezzlement
Victim Organization: PBS&J Corp., Miami, Florida
Amount: $49 million in 2010 dollars ($36.6 million actual)
Perpetrator: William Scott Deloach & Co-conspirators
Position: Chief Financial Officer & Controller
Year Discovered: March 2005
Duration: 13 years (1992 – 2005)
Scheme: Unauthorized/fraudulent checks
Age Scheme Began: 34
Sandhogs Piggishly Pilfered
Victim Organization: NYC Laborers Sandhogs Union Local 147, New York, NY
Amount: $47.6 million in 2010 dollars ($42.6 million actual)
Perpetrator: Melissa G. King
Position: Employee Benefits Manager
Year Discovered: December 2008
Duration: 7 years (2002 – 2008 inclusive)
Scheme: Fraudulent funds transfers
Age Scheme Began: 50
Koss Corp. Coffers Co-Opted
Victim Organization: Koss Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Amount: $ 40.9 million in 2010 dollars ($34.5 million actual)
Perpetrator: Sujata “Sue” Sachdeva
Position: Chief Finance Officer
Year Discovered: December 2009
Duration: 12 years (1997 – 2009)
Scheme: Fraudulent funds transfers
Age Scheme Began: 40
Minnie Mangum Misappropriates Millions
Victim Organization: Commonwealth Building & Loan Association, Norfolk, Virginia
Amount: $ 37.5 million in 2010 dollars ($2,884,957 actual)
Perpetrator: Minnie Mangum
Position: Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
Year Discovered: November 1955
Duration: 22 years (1933 – 1955)
Scheme: Theft from reserve accounts
Age Scheme Began: 29
By Christopher T. Marquet
April 22, 2011
What is Corporate Embezzlement?
What is Corporate Embezzlement?
Corporate embezzlement is a kind of financial fraud that often involves employees who have been wrongfully appropriating funds that have been entrusted to them, but which are owned by the corporation. Because intensive security measures are put in place in the corporate world, corporate embezzlement is a premeditated and methodical criminal action with the intent of concealing the activities from the corporation. In order for a person to successfully embezzle funds, he or she must be a trusted member of the business. This person must also embezzle only a fraction of the funds in their charge. If done properly and undetected, over time the embezzler could continue with unlawful gains without ever being noticed.
Is Corporate embezzlement a misdemeanor or felony?
When executives, directors, board members or trusted employees of a business engage in malicious acts like that of corporate embezzlement, the integrity and financial health of the businesses is compromised. Depending on the severity of the crime (length of time, amount of funds misappropriated, employees involved), embezzlement may qualify as a misdemeanor or a felony. In some cases, criminal defense lawyers are able to reduce the sentences despite the wealth of evidence against the embezzler.
Defense Against Embezzlement Accusations
If you have been accused of diverting company funds for personal use it is essential to your case that you consult with a skilled phoenix criminal defense lawyer to discuss your legal options. A skilled criminal attorney can negotiate with the prosecution and prove that they do not have sufficient evidence, or that the alleged embezzler has been wrongfully accused. Failure to prove one’s innocence has serious penalties. Felony convictions in grand theft cases (crimes over $400) result in a county jail prison sentence with fines exceeding thousands of dollars. Additionally, the convicted person must pay back all the funds to the victim.
Embezzlement Law
Embezzlement is a type of financial fraud that can range in severity from a few misappropriated dollars to a multi-billion dollar complex financial scheme. Embezzlement is defined as, “a criminal offense which involves the fraudulent and secret misappropriation of money or assets by an agent to whom the property has been entrusted.”
In order for embezzlement to occur the original acquisition of the finances or goods must not be trespassory and there must be a conversion. Unlike larceny, embezzlement only occurs when the person facing criminal charges was the entrusted caretaker of the funds. This means that the funds were obtained in a legal and sound manner. A conversion occurs when the funds are not simply relocated, but used in a manner that interferes with them in some way. An example would be a financial adviser taking the funds of his client that were intended to go in to their retirement accounts, and using them to fund his own lifestyle or investments.
The largest embezzlement ever recorded was by American Businessman, stockbroker, and investment adviser Bernard “Bernie” Madoff. In the year 1960 he used the money saved from college jobs to start Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, where he remained the chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. The firm was one of Wall Street’s top market maker businesses for decades, and managed assets in excess of $50 billion dollars. Records indicate that the Ponzi scheme began as early as the 70s, but probes in to the company’s validity didn’t begin until as late as 1999. Many large investment firms and mathematicians questioned the validity of the company and its extravagant payouts, but their concern was largely ignored by the SEC. On December 10, 2008 in his New York penthouse, Madoff confided to his sons that he was struggling to pay back investors, that he had no money left and that the business was a huge Ponzi scheme and was just, “one big lie”. Madoff’s sons reported him to authorities and he was arrested the next day. In March 2009 he pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management company in to a massive Ponzi scheme and was sentenced to 150 years imprisonment- the maximum allowed.
In America embezzlement is a statutory offense, so definitions and punishments can vary. Generally speaking those who are found guilty of embezzlement can face penalties ranging from simply having to pay back their investors to serving lifetime jail sentences and fines of billions of dollars. If you or someone you love is facing charges for embezzlement, contact an Phoenix embezzlement lawyer immediately. An attorney specializing in white collar crime will be able to find weaknesses in the charges you are facing and uncover evidence that will support your defense. In situations where going to court will not be in your favor, an attorney will negotiate to have the charges you are facing reduced.