Larceny, Embezzlement, False pretenses
A crime has been committed when a person takes something, without permission, that is not his own. The direct intention of why that thing is taken and how it was taken makes a difference as to what crime has actually been committed. Larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses are all crimes of taken things that do not actually belong to the person taking them.
There is a distinguishable difference between these three types of crimes, each with its own punishment.
Larceny is defined as “the personal use, profit, or unlawful taking of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it permanently” (Merriam, 2009). This can start as a simple crime and end up being very serious, depending on the value of things that are taken from the owner. There are two grades of larceny, grand and petit. The difference between the two depends on each state’s statutes. A theft of personal property worth over a certain dollar amount, depending on the state, is grand larceny, with punishment of one year or more imprisonment. A theft worth less than this specified dollar amount is punishable by less than one year in prison. An example of larceny is a person taking a box of pens from work, knowing that it is not rightfully theirs, but taking it anyway with no intention of returning them. However petty the crime, it is still a crime for taking what is not yours without permission.
Embezzlement is the “conversion of lawfully acquired property into something for unlawful purposes, personal use or profit.” (Legal Dictionary, 2004 ) An example of embezzlement would be if “a bank official steals money from your account.” (Lippman, 2007, p.454) The value of what one embezzles determines what amount of time one would spend in prison for this crime. “The law of embezzlement has slowly evolved” (Lippman, 2007, p.462) to encompass the variety of ways people attempt to “get away with” the crime.
False pretense is “acquiring the title and...