Definition

1. Noun:
   • The fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to one's care but actually owned by someone else: This refers to the act of embezzling or misappropriating money or assets that one is responsible for managing on behalf of another party.
   • The sum of money that is misappropriated: This refers to the specific amount of funds that have been taken fraudulently.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Act of Misappropriation):
  • The accountant was charged with defalcation of client funds.
  • The audit revealed a significant defalcation within the charity's accounts.
• Noun (Sum Misappropriated):
  • The defalcation amounted to over a million dollars.
  • Investigators are still calculating the total defalcation.

Advanced Usage

• Legal and Financial Context: "Defalcation" is a formal term used primarily in legal, financial, and auditing contexts to describe a specific type of financial breach of trust. It implies a failure in fiduciary duty.
  • The trustee was found liable for defalcation of the estate's assets.

Variants and Related Words

• Defalcate (verb): To misappropriate or embezzle funds.
  • He was accused of attempting to defalcate company property.
• Defalcator (noun): A person who commits defalcation; an embezzler.
  • The defalcator used sophisticated methods to hide the theft.

Synonyms

• Embezzlement: The theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer.
• Misappropriation: The act of taking something for one's own use, typically without permission, especially funds.
• Peculation: Formal term for embezzlement, especially of public funds.

Related Phrases

• Fiduciary breach: A violation of the ethical and legal duty of a person in a position of financial trust, which can involve defalcation.
  • The lawsuit centered on a fiduciary breach involving defalcation of pension funds.

Noun

1. the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else
2. the sum of money that is misappropriated