Definition

1. Noun:
   • The fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else: A specific type of financial crime where a person who is trusted to manage or hold assets (like money or property) illegally takes them for their own use.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The accountant was convicted of embezzlement after stealing from the company's accounts.
  • Embezzlement of public funds is a serious offense that can lead to imprisonment.

Advanced Usage

• "to be guilty of embezzlement": to have committed the crime of taking entrusted funds.
  • The treasurer was found guilty of embezzlement.
• "embezzlement scheme": a planned method for fraudulently taking entrusted money.
  • The elaborate embezzlement scheme went undetected for years.

Variants and Related Words

• Embezzle (verb): to steal money or property that has been entrusted to one's care.
  • He was accused of trying to embezzle client funds.
• Embezzler (noun): a person who commits embezzlement.
  • The embezzler was ordered to repay all the stolen money.

Synonyms

• Misappropriation: The dishonest or unauthorized use of funds, often used interchangeably with embezzlement in legal contexts.
• Defalcation: A formal term, often used in legal or financial settings, for the misappropriation of funds by a person entrusted with them.
• Peculation: The theft or misappropriation of public funds, especially by a public official.

Related Phrases

• Corporate embezzlement: Embezzlement that occurs within a business or corporation.
  • The scandal involved high-level corporate embezzlement.
• Embezzlement of assets: A broader term specifying the theft of property or valuables, not just cash.
  • The investigation uncovered an embezzlement of assets from the estate.

Related Idioms

• "To cook the books": To falsify financial records, which is often a method used to conceal embezzlement.
  • He was not only embezzling but also cooking the books to hide his tracks.
• "To have one's hand in the till": To steal money from the place where one works, similar to embezzlement in a retail or cash-handling context.
  • The manager was caught with his hand in the till.

Noun

1. the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else