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Maryland Federal Embezzlement Defense Strategies

Embezzlement charges are taken incredibly seriously in Maryland, and can produce consequences of both hefty fines and periods of incarceration. In these cases, an individual is normally facing a large company, corporation, or entity that has incredible power in terms of handling a criminal case. As such, it is important that anyone involved in such a charge employ a federal embezzlement lawyer to determine the best possible embezzlement defense strategies for a criminal case in Maryland. Only the right attorney will be able to minimize any penalties you may be facing, and assist in properly defending you against the prosecution.

How Embbezzlment Occurs

Most embezzlement cases deal with the course of conduct over time. It is an individual that, over a period of time, may have taken funds and money. These cases can often be both volume-intensive and paper-intensive, making the case somewhat complicated. In some instances, where the case is dealing with multiple employees and numerous checks, an individual will have to pull the records of everyone and everything to ascertain whether everything is correct. This could involve hundreds, if not thousands of pages of documents. From these, a defense strategy can be discussed in regards to the particular Maryland embezzlement case that is being investigated.

There are two scenarios to approach an embezzlement charge. If the prosecution is trying to say that an individual took a certain amount of funds, but not all of those were actually attributable to the defendant, that defendant can most times whittle down the number that they are trying to say they took.

Determining Trial Proceedings

However, it is always important to determine if the person in question actually did commit the act they are being charged with, and if there is sufficient evidence to convict them. There is a huge benefit that is bestowed upon the prosecution to save them the arduous task of having a trial. A trial could be days long, and is often very complicated, involved, and intense. It takes an enormous amount of expenses and resources by the state and the court to prosecute. Frequently, prosecutors will offer a resolution much better than they ever could have gotten after a trial in exchange for saving the enormous amounts of time in court and cost of resources. There are always defenses available in a Maryland embezzlement case, such as mistake, duress, or simply the state’s inability to prove the embezzlement itself.

Investigating the Case

Embezzlement cases often carry a heavy paper trail, between possible subpoena records, bank records, and phone records. A lot of times, it is not even money that was taken. For instance, an individual may be submitting time cards, but not working the hours that they claim to be working. That is still technically theft and embezzlement, because they are taking money that they are not entitled to. In this case, the prosecution will have to pull the records, time cards, video surveillance, or whatever other evidence may be present in the particular embezzlement case. Further, any witnesses to the case will have to be talked to, and any evidence they can supply has to be recorded and properly handled. Whatever evidence is presented in an embezzlement case is usually substantial.

The government can issue subpoenas to obtain financial records of both banks and private companies. The companies are generally the alleged victims, so they are willing to provide whatever documents are helpful in the prosecution. The government does not need a warrant to obtain these documents, only a subpoena. These documents can be used to determine the best defense strategy to be employed in a Maryland embezzlement case.

The law enforcement agencies involved in embezzlement investigations depends on the jurisdiction. An individual can have local police, federal investigators, or prosecutors that are heavily involved in these types of cases. A prosecutor will often speak to the alleged victims, review financial records, look over bank statements, and things of that nature. There could be numerous agencies involved. Consult with an attorney to help ensure that you are properly defended against your particular embezzlement charge.

Prosecution of an Embezzlement Charge

Prosecutors treat embezzlement cases incredibly seriously. In embezzlement cases, an individual is compromising institutions, businesses, or organizations that are trying to promote a public service, contribute to the public, and grow as an entity. When an individual commits these types of acts, they do not just hurt society, they could hurt somebody that works at the affected organization. People could lose their jobs, and companies and careers could be lost when such an act is committed. These kind of charges also undermine the trust that employers have with employees. Alleged victims talk about how they almost lost their businesses, and how they cannot trust their employees anymore. Embezzlement cases often have a very serious effect on society.

The biggest difference in embezzlement cases as opposed to virtually any other charge is that with embezzlement cases, somebody was in a position of trust. Someone was given an authority that had been abused. There are many different factors and ways of thinking that go into that. All of these contributing factors can determine how an embezzlement case is prosecuted in a court of law.

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