Embezzlement is the fraudulent conversion of a company’s funds or other property by a director of the company. The following acts, inter alia, have been judged by French courts to constitute embezzlement:
- Use, by a corporate officer, of company funds to pay the fees of its own lawyers;
- Payment, by a company, of traffic fines imposed on its CEO, although the CEO committed the traffic offences while driving a company car;
- Payment, by a company to its CEO, of a salary in an amount which was excessive having regard to the work provided by the CEO and the financial situation of the company;
- The fact, for a CEO, to have personally collected the royalties paid on patents which were developed by the company;
- The fact, for a CEO, to have paid – using company funds – the travel expenses of public officers, without any consideration other than the promise of potential future contracts;
- Etc.
To be liable for embezzlement, the corporate officer must have acted intentionally. Such intention may however be inferred from the knowledge, which he/she had, of the damage which was caused to the company.
Embezzlement is punishable by imprisonment up to five years and a fine up to €375,000.
