Cameron is an accountant in the accounting department of Data Analytics Company. Cameron’s son’s college tuition is due within a
week, or he cannot continue taking classes. To meet the due date, Cameron transfers funds from Data Analytics to a fictitious bank account, planning to repay the firm within one month. The transfer is discovered before the firm is re-paid, and Cameron is arrested. What crime, or crimes, if any, has Cameron committed?
The crime of embezzlement is made when a person entrusted with another's funds or property fraudulently appropiates it. That Cameron may have tried to repay the "borrowed funds" is no defense although an embezzler who gives back what has been taken may not be prosecuted because the owner may not wish to take the time to take a complaint, give depositions and appear in court or to reveal that the firm have failed to have safeguards against embezzlement. Depending on how Cameron planned the theft, he may have committed other crimes: larceny, forgery or a computer crime.
