Embezzlement is a common white-collar criminal charge. Professionals who have access to company resources can abuse their employers’ trust in some cases. Occasionally, people with no intention of stealing directly from their employers can also end up accused of embezzlement.
Managers, salespeople and other professionals may travel for work and routinely perform complex job tasks. Their employers may give them access to a company expense account or may have a reimbursement policy to help cover the use of personal funds for business expenses. Mistakes related to company cards and expense reimbursement policies could lead to embezzlement allegations.
Scrutiny can lead to questions about charges
The employee reimbursement process at many companies is relatively straightforward. They submit a receipt, possibly with a document describing how they used personal funds for business purposes. The company then reimburses them for the amounts spent.
Company charge accounts are similar. Workers can keep receipts and simply use the card to pay for necessary expenses while traveling for work or handling business matters. Some people might try to pass off personal expenses as business charges.
Questions about one worker’s conduct or financial challenges for the organization might lead to careful scrutiny of pending and recent reimbursement requests. In some cases, professionals could end up accused of embezzlement because of charges they made years ago. Professionals accused of misusing company cards or reimbursement policies could be at risk of career-damaging embezzlement charges.
Partnering with an attorney when responding to an internal investigation or criminal allegations can help white-collar professionals limit the fallout of what might ultimately be misunderstandings or the result of misinterpreting circumstances.