Fraud vs Embezzlement
Is there a difference between fraud and embezzlement? The question must have come to your mind as fraud and embezzlement are both terms that are closely related to each other and many think that they denote the same meaning. In both cases, we can see cheating and stealing, as well. Fraud is intentionally cheating on somebody illegally. Embezzlement is the act of withholding assets of somebody’s dishonestly and later on claims the ownership of the particular properties. However, embezzlement is committed through fraudulent acts. Both cases are series offences and considered to be crimes.
What does Fraud mean?
Fraud, as mentioned above, is an illegal act where a person cheats for money or goods. Fraud can be an act of an individual or a group of people, committed for their own personal gain. Fraud is a civil crime and also in certain cases it is considered to be a criminal wrong. A person can cheat somebody’s money without letting the owner have knowledge about it. Later if the real owner finds out the fraud act, he/she can go to the courts and file a case against the offender. If there is enough evidence to prove the fraudulent act, the punishments may be severe since it is considered to be a serious crime. Fraudulent actions are not easy to find out in lots of instances. However, these acts may happen every day and everywhere and people should be more careful of their possessions.
What does Embezzlement mean?
Embezzlement is the action of keeping somebody’s assets and properties illegally and later on converting those to them. People sometimes entrust their properties to somebody else for safety or business purposes. Later, the person to whom those particular assets have been entrusted could use the assets for his/her own purposes and he/she can get the ownership of the assets by illegal means. This act of withholding assets is called as embezzlement. Embezzlement is a kind of financial fraud. For example, an investor could embezzle the funds from his/her investors. Moreover, embezzlement happens through fraudulent acts. For example, a bank teller could transfer one of his/her customer’s money to his/her own account and there we see an embezzlement. In this case, the bank teller misrepresents the bank’s approval for the transactions and there we can see fraud or cheating.
Embezzlement may not be a quick act. The person may plan for a long time and embezzlement is performed systematically and methodically. This also could be either individual or a group act. In order to conceal the fraudulent act, the offender might not cheat on all the properties or funds at once but he/she would embezzle them carefully over a long time. This is really difficult to find out in many cases where there are lots of funds and properties. However, the punishments could be severe if the embezzlement is found out.
What is the difference between Fraud and Embezzlement?
When we look at both terms, we see that they are more or less similar and in both cases somebody is cheated badly by another individual or a group of people for their personal benefits. Both embezzlement and fraud are criminal acts and receives severe punishments. However, there are differences too.
• If we look at the differences, we see that an embezzlement happens through fraudulent acts.
• Fraud is difficult to find out and embezzlement may be harder to find out.
• Also, a claimant can file a case against fraud and embezzlement separately as many of embezzlements happen through fraudulent acts.