Under Nevada law,
embezzlement is
defined as the
misappropriation of property
that's been entrusted to you.
So it applies in
a situation where
you had legitimate and lawful
possession of the property
at one time, but then you did
something illegally with it.
And the classic
common sense example
is an employee at a store who
takes cash from a customer
and is responsible to go deposit
this money in the employers
bank account.
But instead of doing that, the
employee pockets the money.
Or to give a less
formal example,
suppose that you go and you
borrow your neighbor's car.
And you say, hey can I borrow
your car just a few minutes,
I'm just going to run
down to the store.
But you never give it back.
You drive to another state
and strip it for parts
and sell the car.
Well, the neighbor calls
the police and says hey,
someone just stole my car.
In reality, you didn't steal
the car, you embezzled the car.
Because in both of
these situations
you had lawful rightful
possession of the property
at one time, but then
you converted it,
and did something
illegal with it.
Now, embezzlement
is a serious crime.
It can be charged as a
misdemeanor or a felony.
How serious an
embezzlement charge is
depends in large
part on the value
of the property
that was embezzled.
If the value is less
than $650, that it
can only be filed
as a misdemeanor,
and you're looking at a
maximum of six months in jail.
But if the value
is $650 or more,
than it can be
filed as a felony.
And depending on the value
of the embezzled property,
you could face up to 10
years in Nevada state prison.
But the worst aspect of being
convicted of embezzlement
is that it goes on you record.
And I can tell you that
it is next to impossible
to get a job
anywhere if you have
a conviction for embezzlement.
Because obviously any
employer's going to look at that
and feel that you're
not trustworthy.
That they don't want to trust
you with their property,
with their money money.
Put you in a position of
trust at their company.
And so it's very easy
to passover applicants
with a record like that and
can make it almost impossible
to get a job.
We have found that embezzlement
is one of those crimes where
a lot of innocent people
get wrongly accused.
And this happens for
a number of reasons.
Sometimes the alleged
embezzler really
had an honest and
reasonable belief
that they had the
right to the property
or they had
permission to take it.
And they weren't aware
of doing anything wrong.
They weren't trying to do
anything inappropriate.
Sometimes we find
that it was really
somebody else who
did the embezzling.
And the finger got pointed
wrongly at our client.
And we've seen that again,
in many situations when
let's say there's multiple
employees at a store who
have access to the computers, or
the cash register, or the safe.
And the finger gets
pointed at our client,
but really it was another
employee who did it.
And sometimes we
have a situation
where the evidence
is overwhelming
that our client did embezzle
the money or property.
And maybe our client confesses.
But even in those
cases, a lot of times
we're able to work out an
informal resolution where
we agree to repay
the money, we agree
to repay restitution in
exchange for ultimately
getting the charges dropped.
Here at the Las
Vegas Defense Group,
we have had a terrific
record of success
over the years in
defending people
who are charged with
embezzlement here
in the state of Nevada.
And ultimately helping
them to get their charges
reduced or even out
right dismissed.
