Embezzlement

Abstract Similar to other crimes, embezzlement is a hotly contested offense that appears to have garnered great attention from the inception of Edwin Sutherland's analysis and further analyzed by Donald Cressey. The occurrence of embezzlement can vary greatly from the taking of money from a place of employment, to the more grand schemes orchestrated within the highest levels of society, and often referred to as collective embezzlement. As with other crimes, scholars have examined the offense through various theoretical lenses varying from the general strain theory (GST) to the integrated theory of crime. While criminologists agree that embezzlement is prevalent within society, there is little data to substantiate the true scope of embezzlement. Even within the FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and the National Incident‐Based Reporting Systems (NIBRS), an accurate portrayal of the scope of embezzlement within society is largely unknown.