Felony or Federal Charge

[Gmom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX I have a very good friend who worked as a manager for fast food resturant for about 10 years. A couple of years ago she she started taking money and fudging deposit slips. Her store had computer problems and there hasnt been any backup as to what sales and/or deposits should have been. She recently quit working there but I worry that they company will eventually figure out what she has done. She states that the ex-manager whose place she took is the one that showed her how to do it and that she found out other managers at other stores were doing the same thing. To me stealing is stealing. But she states that what she did is embezzelment and that is a federal crime and that since she no longer works for that company she cant get in trouble even if they figure it out. Is that true? Is it possible to NOT get in trouble for a theft if its found out months/years later? I worry about this problem so much she has a small child who I babysit and I wonder what will happen.

[CavemanLawyer]

Embezzlement is just a type of theft done by someone who has access to the money by consent. Its basically when an employee commits theft as opposed to someone who reaches over the counter into the cash register and steals. Either way the criminal charge would be theft. This is absolutely not the type of crime that the Feds are ever going to bother with. You'd have to steal quite a bit of money or steal it from some sort of governmental agency to get on their radar. These types of thefts are prosecuted by the State and they can file charges any time up until the statute of limitations runs, regardless of whether the person still works for that employer or not.

If the thefts were done over ten years then I'm sure the amount stolen exceeds $1500 so it would be a felony. The statute of limitations for felony theft is 7 years from the date of offense. So she'd have to wait 7 years after the last incident of theft before she was in the clear. Also, if she leaves the State of Texas then the statute of limitations stops running for that period. Also even if the statute of limitations runs this company still may be able to file a civil suit to collect the damages because the statute of limitations for civil cases is treated differently (ex: doesn't necessarily start running at time of offense.)