Embezzlement In Criminal Law

The topic that I chose to write my capstone about was Criminal Law. While criminal law can seem like a very broad subject, therefor many citizens of the United States do not actually understand exactly what is all involved when it comes to criminal law. People often mistake a criminal law infraction with something that is categorized as a civil law violation and vice versus. During my capstone I hope to clear up the differences by thoroughly explaining the differences between civil and criminal law and what constitutes the event as a criminal act. I will also detail the safeguards that are provided to the defendant by the U.S. Constitution. To further define criminal law I will provide criminal crimes that are affecting businesses and provide
Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of money or other property by a person to the money or property has been entrusted, typically this occurs when an employee steals money or fraudulently covers up the conversion of money for his or her own benefit. Two of the most high profile cases of embezzlement in the past century were the cases of the Enron Corporation and the ponzi scheme, which was masterminded by Bernard Madoff. Enron was a corporation that grew from nowhere to become the countries 7th largest company. At their peak they employed over 21,00 people in more than 40 different countries. It turned out that all the firms’ success was nothing more than a large scam. “By using accounting loopholes, special purpose entities and poor financial reporting, senior executives were able to hide billions in debt from failed deals and projects. Among the firm’s crimes were: manipulating the Texas power market, bribing foreign governments to win contracts abroad and manipulating the California energy market.” (Businesspundit, 2009) Enron’s luck finally ran out when in 2001 author Bethany McLean wrote an article titled “Is Enron Overpriced?” and questioned whether the companies stock prices –which were trading 55 times its earning- could hold up in the long run. This peaked the interest of the SEC, which prompted an investigation of the company. When it was all said and done, Enron
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. Many of this information can be found by hackers that follow your moves on the Internet such as purchasing an item from non-secure websites. Once thieves have your personal information, the can commit a series a crimes such as credit card fraud, phone or utility fraud, bank/finance fraud as well as government document fraud which would include driver’s license or ID cards and Social Security cards. According to ftc.gov, you can find out if you are a victim of identity theft is to “monitor your accounts and bank statements each month, and check your credit report on a regular basis. If you check your credit report regularly, you may be able to limit the damage caused by identity theft.” (Ftc.gov, 2012) If you come to find that you have fell victim of identity theft, it is advised to immediately file a police report. You must report specific details about the identity theft and well as file an ID theft complaint with the FTC. Penalties if convicted of a cyber crime include being charged with a felony which results in fines and imprisonment for up to 20