Embezzlement certainly is a type of theft. If someone is facing embezzlement charges, they are likely being accused of stealing financial assets from a business or corporation.
That said, there are some key differences when it comes to embezzlement charges and more traditional theft charges. Generally speaking, theft means that someone illegally accesses or possesses assets that were never intended for them. Someone may break into a business at night, for example, open the company safe, and take any of the cash that they find inside. But embezzlement works a bit differently, because it is based around misappropriation.
What is misappropriation?
Misappropriation means that the assets are being used in a way that was not intended. The access itself was not prohibited and may have been authorized. But what the person did with the money after they accessed it crossed the line into embezzlement.
For example, an employee at a business may be given the login information for the company’s bank account. They are supposed to use that money to pay suppliers or make important transactions. They may have a financial role at the business.
As such, just accessing the bank account is not an issue. But if that person then transfers money into their personal bank account, they have misappropriated those funds. Rather than using them as intended, they stole them and used them for personal gain.
This may sound like a small distinction, but it is very important to understand the intricacies of how this works, especially for those facing criminal charges. It is also critical that they understand what legal defense options they have at this time.