Possible Embezzlement Charge Coming for

[JohnAppleseed]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: INDIANA
My wife took $27k from her previous employer the last year of her 2 year employment. The employer and my wife signed an agreement that she would pay $100/month in retribution, which she has failed to do. The employer has already been paid back the $27k from the Insurance company. The employer texted my wife, so I called. He wants the $27k to be paid back or he will have her arrested for embezzlement.

Can he do this? Can she be arrested even if we would pay him back the $27k?

He hung up on me shortly after I called.

She does have a previous charge for embezzlement and did go to prison for 1 year and is not on paper any more. Previous employer found out about her previous embezzlement charge AFTER this happened, by doing a background check.
Thank you for your HELP in advance.

[doucar]

Yes, the prosecutor can charge your wife. If a bank robber gets caught right outside the bank and the bank gets its money back, he/she can still be charged with bank robbery. The same general principle applies to embezzlement. The crime occurred when she took the money. Nothing done after that erases it. Whether to prosecutor would file, is another question that we have no way of knowing.

[Taxing Matters]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: INDIANA
Can he do this? Can she be arrested even if we would pay him back the $27k?

Absolutely. Once a theft is committed returning the stolen property does not undo the crime, though it might help in reducing the sentence imposed if convicted.

She does have a previous charge for embezzlement and did go to prison for 1 year and is not on paper any more.

Your wife has a problem that needs to be addressed. Each conviction she gets for this will result in even more severe punishment. She can expect if convicted that she'll do more than a year this time around. She'll have a real tough time getting any good job after another conviction, too. If she can't manage to stop stealing you may want to consider whether you wish to stay with her, since the thefts will start to have negative impact on you, too.

Note that the $27k she stole is also taxable income. Failure to report that income and pay the tax on it can result in penalties imposed by the IRS and the state, and there is a slight chance of prosecution for tax evasion/tax fraud too. If she is prosecuted there is a good chance the prosecutors will inform the IRS of it. And if I were the employer, I'd tell the IRS of it too. So don't count on this just flying under the radar.

[JohnAppleseed]

Thank you very much for your reply. Would we owe the insurance company or the employer? The employer was reimbursed the $27k from the E&O insurance company.

[adjusterjack]

The employer has already been paid back the $27k from the Insurance company. He wants the $27k to be paid back

It would go to the insurance company, not the employer. If you have the money to pay it, make sure the check is made out to the insurance company.

or he will have her arrested for embezzlement.

Can he do this? Can she be arrested even if we would pay him back the $27k?

Yes and yes. I'm surprised that prosecution hasn't been sought already.

[bcr229]

Yes and yes. I'm surprised that prosecution hasn't been sought already.

Since the wife's employer was reimbursed by the insurance company then he may not have reported the crime to the authorities so he could double dip.

Husband needs to stop communicating with the employer or about his wife's criminal issues online. Wife needs to figure out how to pay employer back.

Since wife has twice committed embezzlement then husband needs to figure out how to completely separate his finances from hers, up to and including divorce, to protect himself from her actions.

[adjusterjack]

Since the wife's employer was reimbursed by the insurance company then he may not have reported the crime to the authorities so he could double dip.

Unlikely. The Employee Dishonesty policy contains the following condition:

LOSS – NOTICE – PROOF – ACTION AGAINST COMPANY
Upon knowledge or discovery of loss or of an occurrence which may give rise to a claim for loss, the Insured shall:
(a) give notice thereof as soon as practicable to the Insurer or any of its authorized agents and, except under Insuring Agreements I.A., I.B., and V, also to the police if the loss is due to a violation of law;

The word "shall" in any insurance policy means you comply with the condition or you don't get paid.

I would be surprised if he got paid without filing a police report.

[pg1067]

My wife took $27k from her previous employer the last year of her 2 year employment. The employer and my wife signed an agreement that she would pay $100/month in retribution, which she has failed to do. The employer has already been paid back the $27k from the Insurance company. The employer texted my wife, so I called. He wants the $27k to be paid back or he will have her arrested for embezzlement.

Can he do this?

It is axiomatic that a person can do do anything that he has done. It's worth noting, however, that threatening someone with criminal prosecution in order to coerce the person to pay money (even where that money is lawfully owed) might itself by a crime (extortion). You can google "indiana extortion statute" to see if this is a possibility. Of course, that the former employer may have committed a crime doesn't change the fact that your wife also committed a crime. Nor does the fact that your wife is apparently a serial embezzler help her.

Can she be arrested even if we would pay him back the $27k?

Your wife can properly be arrested, charged and convicted because she admittedly committed a serious crime. That she and/or you might, at some unforeseeable time in the future, pay back the money that she stole doesn't change that (it would still be true even if she/you had already paid back the money).

Would we owe the insurance company or the employer? The employer was reimbursed the $27k from the E&O insurance company.

Your wife's (not your) obligation is to the victim of her crime unless the insurer has asserted its rights to subrogation.

[bcr229]

The word "shall" in any insurance policy means you comply with the condition or you don't get paid.

I would be surprised if he got paid without filing a police report.

Interesting. So if a police report was filed then I'd wonder what else the employer can do to have the OP's wife arrested. Seems to me it would be up to the prosecutor now, whether or not she was paying back her former employer.

[JohnAppleseed]

It's my understanding now that the insurer may not have been notified, and money not paid to employer.