Embezzlement and Employee Theft Lawyer in Edison, Middlesex County

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Embezzlement is not a separately named offense in the New Jersey Code; an employee or trustee who takes or diverts entrusted money is charged with theft under the consolidated theft statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-2, and graded by amount. Over $500 but less than $75,000 is a 3rd-degree crime (3 to 5 years), $75,000 or more is 2nd degree (5 to 10 years), and a person who breaches an obligation as a fiduciary faces 2nd degree at just $50,000; $200 to $500 is 4th degree (up to 18 months), and under $200 is a disorderly persons offense (up to 6 months in county jail).

A disorderly persons charge is heard in the municipal court where the taking happened, such as Edison Municipal Court at 100 Municipal Boulevard or Woodbridge Municipal Court at 1 Main Street. Anything over $200 is indictable and goes to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and Superior Court in New Brunswick. We represent bookkeepers, cashiers, managers, office staff and trustees from our Edison office, and I have more than 15 years of criminal trial experience to draw on when an employer’s numbers do not add up.

The Charges Behind an Embezzlement Case

Because theft is a single consolidated offense, the State can prove it by any of several routes. In employee cases, four come up most.

Unlawful taking, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3. Taking, or exercising unlawful control over, the employer’s property with purpose to deprive. Cash pulled from a register or deposit bag, merchandise removed from a warehouse, or equipment taken home and kept are typical.

Theft by deception, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-4. Obtaining property by creating a false impression: a fake vendor invoice, a padded payroll, a phantom employee, inflated expense reports or doctored commission records. See our theft by deception page.

Failure to make required disposition, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-9. Purposely obtaining or keeping property under an agreement or known legal duty to pay it over or use it a certain way, dealing with it as one’s own, and failing to make the required payment. A contractor who takes a deposit for materials and spends it elsewhere, or an office manager who collects client payments and never deposits them, fits this pattern. The property does not have to be identifiable as the victim’s when the failure occurs.

Misapplication of entrusted property, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-15. Applying or disposing of property held as a fiduciary, or property of a government agency or financial institution, in a way the person knows is unlawful and that creates a substantial risk of loss. This one does not require that the person gained anything; risky, unauthorized handling of entrusted funds is enough.

Presumptions for government and bank employees

Section 2C:20-9 presumes that officers and employees of the government or a financial institution know their legal obligations. It also presumes they dealt with the property as their own if they fail to pay or account on lawful demand, or if an audit shows a shortage or falsified accounts. A bounced check is prima facie evidence of non-payment.

Grading Table

Why small amounts add up

Employee cases rarely involve one taking. The closing paragraph of 2C:20-2(b) allows amounts taken under one scheme or course of conduct, from one victim or several, to be aggregated to set the grade. Fifty dollars a week from a register over two years is charged as one theft of roughly $5,000, a 3rd-degree crime. Aggregation is also where the defense often finds room, because the State must prove that each piece belongs to the same scheme and was actually taken.

What a Conviction Can Cost

• Restitution. Expect it. N.J.S.A. 2C:44-2(b) requires the court to order restitution when the victim suffered a loss and the defendant can pay, now or in the future. Our restitution article covers how the figure is set.
• Prison presumptions. Someone with no prior record who is convicted at the 3rd or 4th degree starts with the law presuming a non-custodial sentence (N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(e)). At 2nd degree the presumption flips toward prison, though 2C:44-1(d)(2) lets a judge sentence one degree lower in a strong mitigation case.
• Fines. Up to $15,000 for 3rd degree and $150,000 for 2nd, or up to double the gain or loss.
• Public employers. When the victim is a government employer and the offense touches the job, theft by deception or failure to make required disposition over $10,000 triggers a mandatory parole bar under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.5 and pension forfeiture. Any 3rd-degree or higher conviction forfeits the public job, and the conviction cannot be expunged. See our official misconduct page.
• Not NERA. Embezzlement is not a No Early Release Act offense.
• Expungement. For private-sector employees, theft is not on the bar list. Our guide to expunging a theft or fraud conviction explains the timing.
• Immigration. Theft and fraud convictions can trigger removal, especially where the loss exceeds $10,000 or the sentence is a year or more. A non-citizen needs an immigration lawyer’s review before any plea.

How Employer Theft Cases Develop in Middlesex County

Most of these cases are investigated by the employer before police are involved. A retailer on Route 1 or Route 9 may have loss-prevention staff review register data and camera footage; a medical practice, nonprofit or small manufacturer in Edison or South Plainfield may hire an accountant after a bank reconciliation fails. The employee is often called into a meeting, shown a summary of losses, and asked to sign a statement or a repayment promise. That document often becomes the State’s best evidence. If you are asked to such a meeting, our police questioning guide applies to private interviews as much as to detectives.

The employer then brings its file to the local police department or directly to the MCPO. Because the evidence is documentary, most employees receive a summons with a court date rather than being arrested. The case begins in Superior Court in New Brunswick if it is indictable; smaller amounts may be filed in, or remanded to, the municipal court with the prosecutor’s agreement.

Restitution drives these cases. The employer usually wants repayment more than a conviction, and the MCPO takes the victim’s position into account. We test the employer’s loss calculation, which often counts shortages the client did not cause, and negotiate a figure and schedule early. Larger cases go to a grand jury in New Brunswick. Any civil lawsuit the employer files runs separately, and restitution paid in the criminal case can be credited against a civil recovery for the same loss.

Diversion for Employee Theft

A first offender charged with a 3rd- or 4th-degree embezzlement count is often a good PTI candidate, with restitution as a condition; the application is due through the Middlesex Criminal Division before the first case disposition conference after arraignment. A 2nd-degree charge, including a fiduciary theft of $50,000 or more, carries a presumption against admission. A public employee whose offense touched the job faces a statutory presumption against PTI and, for listed crimes, a requirement of Attorney General approval. In municipal court, conditional dismissal is usually available for a disorderly persons theft, but it is barred when the offense involved a breach of the public trust. See our Middlesex PTI page.

Defenses to Embezzlement Charges

• Claim of right. Under 2C:20-2(c), an honest belief that you were entitled to the money, such as unpaid commissions, an approved advance or an owner’s informal permission, is an affirmative defense. State v. Ippolito, 287 N.J. Super. 375 (App. Div. 1996), holds that the jury must be instructed on it when the evidence supports it, and the belief need not be about ownership alone.
• Someone else had access. Shared registers, shared logins and shared safes make it hard to prove which employee was responsible.
• Bookkeeping error, not theft. Missing entries, software problems and sloppy records are not purpose to deprive.
• No deception. For 2C:20-4, the employer must have relied on a false impression the defendant created.
• Wrong amount or wrong aggregation. Separating unrelated shortages can reduce the degree.
• No fiduciary role. The $50,000 fiduciary tier requires that the person was acting as a fiduciary.

Get Advice Before the Next Meeting

If your employer has scheduled a meeting, suspended you or shown you an audit, call our Edison office at (732) 659-9600, any day and any hour, or send a confidential message.