The term “financial crimes” is an umbrella-type designation applied to a wide spectrum of alleged illegal activity primarily marked by allegations of stealing by a well-placed individual with inside resources or information.
Embezzlement is a crime that is often spotlighted as a representative activity in the realm of financial wrongdoing.
As we note on a relevant page of our website at the Houston criminal defense firm of Hilder & Associates, P.C., “Embezzlement is theft by a person in a position of trust.”
Like a bank employee with routine access to money accounts, for example. Or a trustee with plenary powers over the withdrawal and distribution of trust monies.
Or, as noted in a recent Washington Post story, an investment adviser who clients manifestly trust and justifiably rely upon to put their money to good use.
In the Post article, the professional adviser was noted to be highly esteemed by his clientele, which notably included several A-tier pro athletes.
He will no longer be handling their money. In fact, and pursuant to a plea agreement he just reached with federal authorities, he will be spending some time behind bars after admitting to embezzling client funds and pleading guilty to a count of wire fraud.
Absent the informed plea, the result could have been materially more adverse for the defendant, who was facing a potential prison term of 20 years. Now, with the plea deal in place, federal sentencing guidelines recommend an incarceration period of somewhere between 33 and 41 months.
In addition to serving time, the adviser is also tasked to pay back his former clients approximately $1 million in compensation for their losses.
