Embezzlement is defined as what?

Embezzlement is defined as what?

• A. Embezzlement
• B. Larceny
• C. Extortion
• D. Burglary

Answer: (A)

Embezzlement centers on someone who is entrusted with property and then uses or takes it for their own benefit, with fraudulent intent to deprive the owner. The essential element is lawful possession or control of the property at the time of misappropriation—the person had a duty to handle it for someone else and fails that duty by converting it for personal use. This is what makes it different from simple taking without permission. For example, an employee who is trusted to manage company funds and directs those funds into their own account has misused property they were entrusted with. That misappropriation, done with the intent to deprive the owner, is embezzlement. This differs from larceny, where a person takes property without any right to possess it in the first place; extortion, which involves obtaining property through threats or coercion; and burglary, which centers on unlawful entry to commit a crime, not on misusing property that was entrusted to the offender.

Embezzlement centers on someone who is entrusted with property and then uses or takes it for their own benefit, with fraudulent intent to deprive the owner. The essential element is lawful possession or control of the property at the time of misappropriation—the person had a duty to handle it for someone else and fails that duty by converting it for personal use. This is what makes it different from simple taking without permission.

For example, an employee who is trusted to manage company funds and directs those funds into their own account has misused property they were entrusted with. That misappropriation, done with the intent to deprive the owner, is embezzlement.

This differs from larceny, where a person takes property without any right to possess it in the first place; extortion, which involves obtaining property through threats or coercion; and burglary, which centers on unlawful entry to commit a crime, not on misusing property that was entrusted to the offender.