A California man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on charges related to embezzlement on July 18. The 64-year-old financial advisor had pleaded no contest to 25 counts of grand theft and money laundering. He reportedly embezzled almost $1 million.
The judge said that he normally did not give prison sentences in cases of white-collar crimes, preferring instead to reserve them for violent crimes. In this case, however, he said he was sentencing the man to prison because he had stolen from injured employees who had workers’ compensation funds to pay for future medical expenses. According to the prosecution, the financial advisor convinced clients to give him their settlement checks and then spent the money on himself. The man is also supposed to repay the money he stole, but since his bank accounts were emptied, it is unclear whether the victims will ever get any money back.
The man had been initially charged in 2017 over money stolen from two people. However, an investigator says others continued to come forward after that for a total of 12.
While some might assume that a white-collar crime would not carry penalties as severe as some other types of crimes, this case demonstrates that this is not always true. Furthermore, some people who are under investigation in relation to a white-collar crime might not initially realize it. As a result, people who are questioned in relation to any financial irregularities might want to consult an attorney or even have an attorney present. White-collar crimes could include tax evasion, mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.
