Embezzlement is the misuse of funds or property by those entrusted to safeguard them, and is a crime worldwide. Misappropriation can also refer to the unauthorized use of information or ideas. Embezzlement can be difficult to detect, but audits and reports can help. Penalties vary, including jail time and career hindrance.
Embezzlement is the use of funds or property for unauthorized purposes. This term is most commonly used when people such as trustees, government officials, executors of wills, and other people charged with safeguarding funds and property are involved in the misuse of the things they have been entrusted to care for. Embezzlement is a crime in most regions of the world and people can be sentenced to prison for engaging in this activity.
A classic example of embezzlement is embezzlement, where people take funds they are not entitled to. Individuals may misappropriate funds or property for their own purposes or for other unauthorized use. For example, an executor who takes funds set aside for the descendants of the deceased and donates them to charity is engaged in embezzlement. Even if the executor’s actions were for a just cause, they are still illegal because the use to which they were put was not authorized.
The term “misappropriation” can also be used to describe the abusive or unauthorized use of information or ideas. For example, when people use inside knowledge about a company to manipulate the stock market, it is a form of embezzlement, as they are using inside information for unauthorized purposes. Similarly, someone who uses an idea from a lecture, paper, or other publication for their work without crediting the idea’s originator is embezzling by borrowing an idea without permission.
Investigating embezzlement can get complicated. People are very good at covering their tracks when embezzling, and may use a variety of techniques to hide their activities or to obfuscate their legality to make identification difficult. Audits of financial accounts can sometimes reveal this type of activity, as can reports from people who observe this activity and report it to authorities. People who observe this type of activity are often encouraged to report it in the interest or protection of the public and those directly affected.
Penalties for embezzlement vary depending on the type of business someone is involved in. People are usually expected to make repairs, returning the funds or property to the rightful owner. They can also spend time in jail for their activities. In the academic community, someone who misappropriates ideas or research may find that the business is a career hindrance, as other members of the community usually shun someone who has misappropriated materials for their own use.
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