Theft

When one hears the words, theft crimes they automatically think of the crimes of larceny or robbery. There are more than just larceny and robbery when dealing with a theft crime. In Michigan, there is a variety of different theft crimes one could be charged with that they may or may not have believed to be considered theft.

In today’s world, Michigan’s most common theft crimes are larceny and retail fraud. Larceny is the taking of someone else’s property without their consent and the one taking the property had the intention to permanently deprive the owner of their property. Retail fraud essentially is when one steals property from a retail store with the intent to steal or take the property permanently. Retail fraud is broken down into three different degrees. Those degrees are first degree retail fraud, second degree retail fraud, and third-degree retail fraud.

In situations where a trust relationship has been established and an individual steals from another person within that trust relationship, that individual could be charged with embezzlement. Embezzlement can only occur when a relationship of trust has been created between individuals and because of that relationship an individual stole property that they intended to make their own. Many people believe, based upon watching crime TV shows, that embezzlement can only occur with the individual of power and that is not the case. And more times than not, when embezzlement occurs it is between individuals who do not have the power nor may not have a large amount of money.