Embezzlement and Forgery Laws by State: Penalties (2026)

Embezzlement is a crime in every state and the District of Columbia, but most criminal codes no longer call it by that name. In 34 jurisdictions, an employee, agent or fiduciary who keeps money held for someone else is charged with theft or larceny, graded by the value taken; eleven states keep a separate embezzlement crime, and six use both approaches. Forgery, falsely making or altering a document with intent to defraud, is a felony at any amount in 26 jurisdictions and is graded by the kind of document or the amount in the rest. Federal law adds its own embezzlement, fraud and forgery offenses, covered at the end of this page.

Information last verified on October 18, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This hub compares the embezzlement and forgery statutes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, each summarized from its own state page (linked in the table below), and the main federal embezzlement, fraud and forgery statutes. It does not repeat each state's full theft value table (see theft laws by state) or felony class sentencing ranges (see felony and misdemeanor classes by state), and it does not cover identity theft, scams and victim reporting, civil lawsuits or local ordinances.

What is embezzlement?

Embezzlement is taking property that the person already holds lawfully, because of a job, an office or a position of trust, and converting it to their own use. The U.S. Supreme Court gave the classic description in Moore v. United States, 160 U.S. 268 (1895):

"Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom such property has been entrusted, or into whose hands it has lawfully come."

State statutes that still name the crime use similar words. California Penal Code 503 defines embezzlement as the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted. Michigan's MCL 750.174 covers an agent, servant, employee, trustee, bailee or custodian who fraudulently disposes of or converts money or property that came to them "by virtue of" that position, and North Carolina's G.S. 14-90 reaches property "which shall have come into his possession or under his care."

How embezzlement differs from larceny

What separates embezzlement from larceny is how the person came to hold the property: embezzlement starts with lawful possession, as an employee, agent, officer or fiduciary. North Carolina's Supreme Court applied that line in State v. Weaver, 359 N.C. 246 (2005), affirming the reversal of convictions for aiding and abetting embezzlement and conspiracy to embezzle because the employee "did not lawfully possess or control the misappropriated funds." The court explained:

"Because her possession, if any, was not lawful, the crime of embezzlement has not occurred."

In the states that fold embezzlement into a single theft offense (next section), one statute covers both kinds of conduct, and the distinction matters most in the states that keep a separate embezzlement crime.

How states charge embezzlement: two models

The state pages show two basic approaches, plus a group of states that combine them.

Embezzlement folded into theft or larceny (34 jurisdictions). These codes have no general offense named embezzlement. Instead, a consolidation clause says that theft includes the conduct once called embezzlement. Tennessee's T.C.A. 39-14-101 is typical: theft is "a single offense embracing the separate offenses referenced before 1989 as embezzlement, false pretense, fraudulent conversion, larceny, receiving or concealing stolen property, and other similar offenses." New York's Penal Law 155.05 lists conduct "heretofore defined or known as ... embezzlement" as one way of committing larceny, and Alabama's 13A-8-1(8) defines "obtains or exerts unauthorized control" to include conduct "heretofore defined or known as" larceny by conversion and embezzlement. Several states, including Alaska, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, name the specific form "theft by failure to make required disposition" of property or funds received.

A named embezzlement offense (11 states). California, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia keep a crime called embezzlement. Even here the punishment often borrows from theft. California Penal Code 514 punishes embezzlement as theft of the value taken, Nevada's NRS 205.300 punishes it as stealing property of the same kind and value, and Virginia's 18.2-111 and West Virginia's 61-3-20 treat the embezzler as guilty of larceny. Rhode Island's 11-41-3 says the embezzler is "deemed guilty of larceny" but sets its own penalty. Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Vermont set their own embezzlement tiers.

Both (6 states). Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Carolina and Utah charge most private embezzlement as theft or larceny but keep a separately named embezzlement offense for particular cases:

• Colorado: 18-4-403 reads every reference to embezzlement, "except embezzlement of public moneys," as theft, and 18-8-407 keeps embezzlement of public property as its own crime.
• Maryland: theft under Crim. Law 7-102 includes the former crime of embezzlement, while 7-113 makes a fiduciary's fraudulent misappropriation "the misdemeanor of embezzlement," carrying 1 to 5 years at any amount.
• Massachusetts: the larceny statute, G.L. c. 266, s. 30, covers anyone who "with intent to steal or embezzle, converts, or secretes with intent to convert, the property of another," and sections 50 to 57 add embezzlement offenses for officers, fiduciaries, brokers, bank insiders and receivers.
• Minnesota: theft under 609.52 covers private embezzlement, and 609.54 makes embezzlement of public funds a separate crime.
• South Carolina: the only offense named embezzlement in Title 16 covers public funds (16-13-210); a private employee or agent is charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent, which 16-13-230 says is larceny.
• Utah: theft under 76-6-404 covers most embezzlement, and 76-16-210 (renumbered from former 76-10-706 in the 2025 recodification of the criminal code) makes embezzlement of corporate or association funds by a director, officer, agent or member a third degree felony.

Two theft states keep the word in the statute itself. South Dakota's SDCL 22-30A-10 is titled "Embezzlement of property received in trust," but it says the person "is guilty of theft," and Montana's MCA 45-6-301(6) defines "theft of property by embezzlement" as a subsection of the general theft statute. Several states also use the word in narrower statutes, inside the criminal code (such as Alabama's 13A-8-2.2 on employee retirement contributions and Missouri's 570.217 on financial-institution insiders) or outside it in banking or insurance laws; the state pages list them.

Embezzlement and forgery laws by state

Each row summarizes the state page linked in the first column. The felony column gives the general value line for embezzlement-type theft or the state's embezzlement statute; "generally" marks states whose page shows exceptions, such as prior theft convictions, property taken from older victims, or listed property that is a felony at any value. Special public-funds lines are noted where the state page gives one. Value tiers above the felony line, and the sentencing range for each class, are on the state pages and in our theft laws by state and felony and misdemeanor classes guides.

Is embezzlement a felony?

In most states it depends on the amount. Because most codes punish embezzlement as theft, it is a misdemeanor below the theft felony line and a felony above it, and the grade keeps rising with the value. Across the table, the general felony line runs from $100 in Rhode Island and Vermont to $2,500 in Texas and Wisconsin. The most common line is $1,000, used in 21 jurisdictions.

A few points stand out:

• North Carolina has no misdemeanor tier for embezzlement: G.S. 14-90 makes it a Class H felony below $100,000 and a Class C felony at $100,000 or more.
• Rhode Island sets a felony at $100 or more, with up to 20 years and a fine of up to $50,000 or three times the value, whichever is greater (11-41-3). Its larceny value table in 11-41-5 expressly leaves embezzlement out.
• Vermont punishes employee embezzlement over $100 by up to 10 years (13 V.S.A. 2531), and embezzlement by bank officers, court-appointed receivers and trustees, executors, administrators, guardians, carriers and public officers is a felony at any amount (13 V.S.A. 2532 to 2537).
• Michigan's MCL 750.174 has its own ladder: up to 5 years from $1,000, rising to 10, 15 and 20 years at $20,000, $50,000 and $100,000, with a fine of a fixed amount or 3 times the value embezzled, whichever is greater.
• New Mexico grades by the total taken from one victim in any consecutive twelve-month period, a felony over $500 (NMSA 30-16-8).
• States that do not use the felony label grade by class or degree instead: D.C. by first- and second-degree theft, Maine by Classes A to E, and New Jersey by degree.

Value is not the only route to a felony. Many states make a smaller theft a felony after prior theft convictions, for example Florida, Indiana and Kansas, and many let prosecutors add a series of takings together. Michigan adds separate takings under one scheme within 12 months (750.174(8)); Kentucky combines offenses within 90 days (KRS 514.070(7)); Indiana allows thefts within a 30-day period to be charged in one count (35-41-2-6); and California makes an employee's or agent's takings from an employer that add up to $950 or more in any 12 consecutive months grand theft (Penal Code 487(b)(3)).

For the full value tiers in each state, see theft laws by state; for what each felony class carries, see felony and misdemeanor classes by state.

Special embezzlement rules

Beyond the general theft or embezzlement statute, most states add rules for particular people, property or victims.

Public funds and public officers

Many states treat public money separately, with a felony at any amount or a lower dollar line. Examples from the state pages:

• California: embezzling public funds is a felony under Penal Code 514 whatever the amount, and Penal Code 424 separately punishes officials and others who handle public moneys and misuse them by two, three or four years.
• Arizona: a public officer or other custodian who appropriates public monies without authority of law commits a class 4 felony at any amount (A.R.S. 35-301), and a prosecution for misuse of public monies may begin at any time (13-107(A)).
• Colorado: embezzlement of public property is a class 5 felony at any value (18-8-407).
• North Carolina: embezzling State, local-government or school funds, or taxes, is a Class F felony below $100,000 and Class C at $100,000 or more (14-91, 14-92, 14-99).
• Virginia: an officer, agent or employee of the Commonwealth or a locality who knowingly misuses public funds commits a Class 4 felony at any amount, and a default in paying them over is prima facie evidence of guilt (18.2-112).
• Washington: a public officer, or anyone receiving public money, who appropriates it without authority of law commits a class B felony at any amount (RCW 42.20.070).
• Lower lines: Michigan makes a public officer's appropriation of $50 or more a felony with up to 10 years (750.175); North Dakota sets a $100 felony line for a public servant acting in official duties (12.1-23-05); Nevada sets $650 for public money (NRS 204.020); and Kansas makes misuse of public funds a felony from $1,000 (21-6005).
• Enhancements: Texas raises a theft graded below first degree one category when a public servant takes property that came into his custody because of that position (Penal Code 31.03(f)), and Mississippi requires a one-year minimum prison term that cannot be reduced or suspended for a felony in which $10,000 or more of public funds was taken (99-19-18).

Removal from office, office bars and pension forfeiture

A conviction can also end a public career. California bars a person convicted of embezzling public funds from any office of honor, trust or profit in the state (Penal Code 514). Colorado forever bars the person from the legislature and any office of trust or profit (18-8-407), Ohio's theft in office statute forever disqualifies the official from public office and employment in Ohio (2921.41), and Kentucky's abuse of public trust judgment bars future public office (KRS 522.050). In Nevada and Washington, a public officer convicted of a felony forfeits the office and may never again hold public office in the state (NRS 197.230; RCW 9.92.120). North Carolina bars a person convicted of embezzling local-government funds from public office until citizenship rights are restored (159-181(b)).

Public pensions are a second consequence. Examples include:

• Alaska: no state pension benefit for a public officer convicted of a listed felony, including misuse of funds, committed in connection with official duties on or after July 10, 2007 (AS 37.10.310).
• Arizona: forfeiture of benefits earned under the plan for a class 1 to 5 felony committed in public employment, apart from a refund of the member's own contributions with interest (13-713).
• Connecticut: loss of all or part of a pension by Superior Court order sought by the Attorney General, for a crime related to office (1-110a).
• Hawaii: a court may order forfeiture of half the pension for a felony committed by using the official position, for felonies committed on or after June 24, 2021 (88-74.8).
• Massachusetts: no retirement allowance unless and until full restitution is made, for an offense involving the funds or property of a governmental unit or system (c. 32, s. 15(3)).
• Missouri and New Jersey: forfeiture for listed job-related felonies (RSMo 105.669; N.J.S.A. 43:1-3.1).
• Rhode Island: a judge may revoke or reduce a public pension (11-41-31).

Fiduciaries, misapplication and bank insiders

Many codes add an offense for people trusted with other people's money. Several states punish misapplication of entrusted property by a fiduciary, or by anyone holding government or financial-institution property, as an offense separate from theft. Alaska (AS 11.46.620), New Jersey (2C:21-15), North Dakota (12.1-23-07), Oregon (ORS 165.095, a Class A misdemeanor at any amount) and Texas (Penal Code 32.45, for a fiduciary's misapplication that involves substantial risk of loss, graded on the theft value ladder) are examples.

Other states raise the grade when a fiduciary takes the property. Georgia's 16-8-12(a)(3) sets 1 to 15 years at any value for theft by a fiduciary in breach of a fiduciary obligation, or by a government or financial-institution officer or employee in breach of duty. Pennsylvania never grades theft in breach of fiduciary obligation lower than a first-degree misdemeanor (3903(b)). Massachusetts has separate sections, with no dollar threshold, for city, town and county officers, fiduciaries, brokers, bank insiders and receivers (c. 266, ss. 50 to 57).

Some states also write a presumption into the statute. In New Hampshire (RSA 637:10, III), New Jersey (2C:20-9) and Pennsylvania (3927(b)), a government or financial-institution officer or employee is presumed to have dealt with property as their own if they fail to account on lawful demand or an audit shows a shortage.

Bank insiders often face their own statute, outside the theft value ladder:

• Arkansas: a bank officer, director, agent or employee who embezzles or willfully misapplies bank funds faces up to 30 years, a fine up to $1,000,000, or both (23-50-105).
• West Virginia: an officer, agent, clerk or servant of a banking institution who embezzles faces a prison term of not less than ten years (61-3-20).
• Florida: a financial institution-affiliated party who embezzles the institution's money with intent to deceive or defraud it commits a third-degree felony at any amount (655.0322(3)(b)).
• Hawaii, Missouri and Nevada: separate bank-insider offenses: a class C felony in Hawaii, or a misdemeanor at $300 or less (HRS 412:2-608); a class E felony in Missouri, class D at $750 or more (RSMo 570.217); and a category C felony in Nevada at $650 or more (NRS 668.055).

Older and vulnerable victims

Many states raise the grade or the penalty when the person who loses the money is older or vulnerable:

• Connecticut makes embezzlement of any value from a victim 60 or older, a conserved person, or a blind or physically disabled person at least a Class C felony (53a-123(a)(4)), and a Class B felony above $20,000 (53a-122).
• Delaware makes theft from a victim 62 or older, an impaired adult or a person with a disability a class G felony at any value (841).
• Florida makes theft from a victim the offender knows or has reason to believe is 65 or older a felony from $300 (812.0145).
• Ohio makes theft from an elderly person or disabled adult a felony at any value (2913.02(B)(3)).
• Tennessee punishes financial exploitation of an adult 70 or older or a vulnerable adult one class higher than theft (39-15-502).
• Nevada adds a consecutive prison term of 1 to 20 years for embezzlement of $650 or more from a person 60 or older or a vulnerable person, when the crime is a felony (NRS 193.167).

Many states also have a separate financial exploitation crime for caregivers, agents under a power of attorney and others in a position of trust. Those offenses, and what to do if an older relative has been exploited, are covered in our elder fraud guide.

Is paying the money back a defense?

Several statutes answer this directly:

• California: Penal Code 512 and 513 make restoring the property no defense; if it is restored before an information or indictment charging the offense, the court may, in its discretion, mitigate the punishment.
• Idaho: intending to give the property back is not a defense to theft by embezzlement, but a court may consider it in mitigation if the property was restored before any complaint or indictment (Idaho Code 18-2406(3)).
• South Dakota: returning the property is not a defense; if it is returned before an indictment or information is laid before a magistrate, it may be considered only in mitigation (SDCL 22-30A-10.1).
• Oklahoma: intending to restore the money is no defense unless the property was restored before an information was laid before a magistrate (21 O.S. 1460).

Forgery and uttering

What forgery is

Forgery statutes punish falsely making, completing or altering a written instrument with intent to defraud. Hawaii's base offense is a typical definition:

"A person commits the offense of forgery in the third degree if, with intent to defraud, the person falsely makes, completes, endorses, or alters a written instrument, or utters a forged instrument." HRS 708-853

Some states widen the intent element: New York requires intent to defraud, deceive or injure (Penal Law 170.05 to 170.15), and Florida's 831.01 requires intent to injure or defraud. A signature made without authority is a common example. Minnesota's check forgery statute, 609.631, covers falsely endorsing a check "so that it purports to have been endorsed by another," and making a check that purports to be made "by the authority of one who did not give authority," in each case with intent to defraud. Readers dealing with a forged or washed check as victims can start with our guide to mail theft and check washing.

Uttering and possession

Uttering means passing or offering a forged document as genuine, knowing it is forged. Some states make it a separate crime. Massachusetts punishes anyone who, "with intent to injure or defraud, utters and publishes as true a false, forged or altered record, deed, instrument or other writing mentioned in the four preceding sections, knowing the same to be false, forged or altered," by up to 10 years in state prison or 2 years in jail (G.L. c. 267, s. 5). Florida (831.02), Michigan (750.249) and Vermont (13 V.S.A. 1802) also have separate uttering offenses. New York calls knowingly uttering or possessing a forged instrument "criminal possession of a forged instrument" and grades it at the same three levels as forgery (170.20 to 170.30). Other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska and Tennessee, include uttering or possession in the forgery offense itself.

Two ways of grading forgery

Graded by instrument or amount (25 jurisdictions). Many of these grade by the kind of document: the more official or valuable the document, the higher the degree. In New York, Kentucky, Connecticut and Hawaii, forging government money, securities or corporate stock and bonds is the top degree; deeds, wills, contracts and commercial instruments such as checks are the middle degree; and any other written instrument is the lowest degree, a misdemeanor-level offense. Alabama has four degrees, and forging a check is third-degree forgery, a Class D felony at any amount (13A-9-3.1). Others grade by money involved: Mississippi's forgery is a misdemeanor under $1,000 and a felony from $1,000 (97-21-33), Montana's is a misdemeanor unless it is part of a common scheme or exceeds $1,500, and South Carolina's is graded by the amount and is a misdemeanor if no dollar amount is involved. California's forgery can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony, and forged checks and similar items worth $950 or less are generally misdemeanor-only (Penal Code 473). Texas makes forgery a state jail felony by default for offenses on or after September 1, 2025, a third-degree felony for checks and other commercial instruments and a second-degree felony for money, securities and government records, but grades it by value instead when it is shown at trial that the forgery was aimed at obtaining property or a service (Penal Code 32.21).

A felony at any amount (26 jurisdictions). These states make the main forgery offense a felony with no dollar threshold. Florida (third-degree felony, 831.01), Indiana (Level 6 felony, 35-43-5-2), Washington (class C felony, RCW 9A.60.020), Missouri, Nevada, Kansas, Utah, South Dakota and Wyoming set one grade for the main offense. Arkansas, North Carolina and Virginia keep it a felony but vary the class by instrument, New Mexico by instrument and value, and Ohio and Tennessee grade felony forgery by value from a floor that is never below a felony (Ohio 2913.31; Tennessee 39-14-114, never less than a Class E felony). A few of these states have narrow misdemeanor exceptions, such as forging an identification card in Ohio and Wisconsin.

Forged checks, counterfeit money and other forgery-related crimes, such as possessing forgery devices and criminal simulation, are listed on each state page.

Time limits for prosecution

Each state sets its own deadline to charge embezzlement and forgery, and several treat them differently from other crimes. Some examples:

• No time limit for forgery: Alabama for any felony involving forgery (15-3-5(a)(6)), Colorado (16-5-401), Illinois (720 ILCS 5/3-5(a)(1)), Nebraska (29-110) and Rhode Island (12-12-17). Rhode Island gives embezzlement under 11-41-3 a 10-year limit.
• No time limit for embezzlement or forgery: Mississippi (99-1-5).
• Public money: Arizona allows a prosecution for misuse of public monies at any time (13-107(A)).
• Delayed start: in Louisiana, for misappropriation by someone entrusted with money through an office, job or fiduciary relationship, the time limit does not start until that relationship ends (C.Cr.P. art. 573(1)).
• Discovery rules: many states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania, extend the period for offenses involving fraud or breach of a fiduciary duty so that charges can be filed within a set time after the offense is discovered.

The general periods for every state are in our statute of limitations guide.

Recent changes to embezzlement and forgery laws

The state pages record these recent and upcoming changes:

• Texas (September 1, 2025): a new forgery grading scale, a state jail felony by default with higher grades by instrument and value-based grading when the forgery was aimed at property or a service (Penal Code 32.21).
• New Mexico (July 1, 2025): embezzlement is graded by the total taken from one victim over a twelve-month period, not by each incident alone (Laws 2025, ch. 69).
• Montana (July 1, 2025): a single felony tier for theft and forgery over $1,500 replaced the earlier tiers, with up to 10 years and $50,000 for theft and up to 20 years and $50,000 for forgery (Laws 2025, ch. 583).
• Utah (2025): the criminal code recodification (Laws 2025, ch. 173) moved the corporate-officer offenses of former 76-10-706 into 76-16-210, which keeps embezzlement, abstraction or misapplication of corporate or association funds a third degree felony.
• Wisconsin (March 22, 2026): under 2025 Wisconsin Act 106, a prior theft or retail-theft conviction lets a misdemeanor theft be charged as a Class I felony and a felony one class higher.
• Wyoming (July 1, 2026): misdemeanor theft now carries up to 1 year and $1,500, and a third theft offense, not a fifth, is a felony (2026 Wyo. Sess. Laws ch. 11).
• Minnesota (August 1, 2026): theft committed knowing or having reason to know the victim is a vulnerable adult is raised a level, and a felony's maximum is 25 percent longer (2026 Minn. Laws ch. 118).
• Delaware (September 14, 2026): related thefts in a single course of conduct are added together for the felony tiers (85 Del. Laws c. 502).
• Oregon (January 1, 2027): for conduct on or after that date, HB 4041 raises the theft lines to $150 and $1,500, moving the felony line from $1,000 to $1,500.
• Michigan (pending): Senate Bills 112 and 113 of 2025-2026 would change the vulnerable-adult rules; they are bills, not law.

Federal embezzlement, fraud and forgery laws

Federal law (separate from every state code above) has no single embezzlement statute. It punishes embezzlement according to whose money is taken or who takes it, and its mail, wire and bank fraud statutes reach schemes to obtain money or property by false pretenses. Federal maximums below come from the sections named; where a section says only "fined under this title," the federal fine statute applies.

Federal embezzlement statutes

Section 666 has an exception for "bona fide salary, wages, fees, or other compensation paid, or expenses paid or reimbursed, in the usual course of business" (666(c)). In Snyder v. United States, 603 U.S. 1 (2024), the Supreme Court read the section's bribery provision to cover bribes but not gratuities for an official's past acts; that case did not involve the embezzlement provision.

Mail, wire and bank fraud

The federal fraud statutes reach schemes to defraud that use the mail, interstate wires or a financial institution:

• Mail fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341) and wire fraud (18 U.S.C. 1343): using the mail, a private or commercial interstate carrier, or interstate wire, radio or television communication to carry out a scheme to defraud or to obtain money or property by false pretenses carries up to 20 years. If the violation involves a benefit connected to a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency, or affects a financial institution, the maximum is 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine.
• Bank fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344): knowingly executing or attempting a scheme to defraud a financial institution, or to obtain its money or property by false pretenses, carries up to 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine.
• Attempt and conspiracy (18 U.S.C. 1349): carry the same penalties as the fraud offense that was the object.
• Honest services (18 U.S.C. 1346): a "scheme or artifice to defraud" includes a scheme to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services, which Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358 (2010), limited to "bribery and kickback schemes."

The Supreme Court has set limits on what the fraud statutes protect. In Ciminelli v. United States, 598 U.S. 306 (2023), it held that "the wire fraud statute reaches only traditional property interests," rejecting the right-to-control theory. In Kelly v. United States (2020), it held that the officials could violate the fraud statutes at issue "only if an object of their dishonesty was to obtain the Port Authority's money or property." In Kousisis v. United States (2025), it held that "the wire fraud statute is agnostic about economic loss," so a defendant who induces a victim into a transaction under materially false pretenses may be convicted even without seeking to cause economic loss.

One common scheme is business email compromise, which the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center describes as "a sophisticated scam that targets both businesses and individuals who perform legitimate transfer-of-funds requests." Victim reporting steps are in our scam and fraud laws guide.

Federal forgery and counterfeiting

• Counterfeit U.S. obligations and securities: falsely making, forging, counterfeiting or altering them with intent to defraud (18 U.S.C. 471), passing or keeping them with that intent (472), or dealing in them (473) each carry up to 20 years.
• Forged writings to get money from the United States: forging a deed, power of attorney, contract or other writing to obtain money from the United States, or uttering or presenting one, carries up to 10 years (18 U.S.C. 495).
• Treasury checks and U.S. bonds: forging an endorsement or signature, or passing one, carries up to 10 years, or 1 year if the face value does not exceed $1,000 (18 U.S.C. 510).
• State and private securities: making, uttering or possessing a forged or counterfeited security of a state, political subdivision or private organization with intent to deceive carries up to 10 years (18 U.S.C. 513). "Security" includes a check, draft, money order and traveler's check, and "forged" means a document that "purports to be genuine but is not because it has been falsely altered, completed, signed, or endorsed."

Federal fines and classes

Where a federal statute says only that a person "shall be fined under this title," 18 U.S.C. 3571 sets the ceiling: up to $250,000 for an individual convicted of a felony and $500,000 for an organization, or, as an alternative, up to twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, unless that would unduly complicate or prolong sentencing. Under 18 U.S.C. 3559, an offense that its own section does not classify by letter grade is a Class B felony if its maximum is 25 years or more and a Class C felony if the maximum is 10 to under 25 years, so the 30-year offenses are Class B felonies and the 10- and 20-year offenses above are Class C felonies.

Related legal issues

Embezzlement and forgery often sit next to other offenses with their own pages:

• Identity theft: using another person's identifying information to open accounts or pass checks is covered in our identity theft laws guide.
• Fraud and scams: schemes aimed at the public rather than an employer are covered in our scam and fraud laws guide.
• Clearing a record: whether an embezzlement or forgery conviction can be expunged or sealed depends on the state; see expungement laws by state.

Related pages

• Theft laws by state
• Felony and misdemeanor classes by state
• Scam and fraud laws
• Mail theft and check washing
• Elder fraud and financial exploitation
• Identity theft laws
• Expungement laws by state
• Statute of limitations in the United States

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about state and federal embezzlement and forgery laws in the United States, current as of October 18, 2026. It is not legal advice. Statutes change, and how a law applies depends on the facts. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in your state.

Last updated: October 18, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is embezzlement a felony?

It depends on the state and usually on the amount. Most states grade embezzlement by value, with general felony lines from $100 (Rhode Island and Vermont) to $2,500 (Texas and Wisconsin); North Carolina makes it a felony at any amount under G.S. 14-90, and many states make misuse of public funds a felony at any amount.

What is the difference between embezzlement and theft?

Embezzlement involves property the person first held lawfully, as an employee, agent or fiduciary, and then fraudulently appropriated. In Moore v. United States (1895) the Supreme Court described it as the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it was entrusted or into whose hands it lawfully came. Most states now charge it as a form of theft or larceny.

Which states have a crime called embezzlement?

California, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia have a named embezzlement offense in the criminal code. Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Carolina and Utah charge most embezzlement as theft or larceny but keep a separately named embezzlement offense, such as public funds, fiduciaries or corporate funds.

Is paying the money back a defense to embezzlement?

Several statutes say it is not. California Penal Code 512 and 513, Idaho Code 18-2406(3) and SDCL 22-30A-10.1 state that restoring the property is not a defense, though a court may consider it in mitigation in listed circumstances. Oklahoma's 21 O.S. 1460 makes intent to restore no defense unless the property was restored before an information was laid before a magistrate.

Is forgery a felony?

In 26 of the 51 jurisdictions the main forgery offense is a felony whatever the amount, for example Florida (third-degree felony) and Washington (class C felony). The other 25 grade forgery by the kind of instrument, the amount or both, so in most of them forging some documents is a misdemeanor-level offense; New York, for example, runs from a class A misdemeanor to a class C felony.

What does uttering a forged instrument mean?

Uttering means passing, publishing or offering a forged document as genuine, knowing it is forged. Massachusetts punishes anyone who, with intent to injure or defraud, utters and publishes as true a forged writing (G.L. c. 267, s. 5); many states fold uttering into the forgery offense itself.

Is signing someone else's name on a check forgery?

Forgery statutes reach a signature made without authority when it is done with intent to defraud. Minnesota's check forgery statute, 609.631, covers falsely endorsing a check so that it purports to have been endorsed by another, with intent to defraud. Each state's definition is on its state page.

Is embezzlement a federal crime?

Federal law reaches embezzlement of federal money, property or records (18 U.S.C. 641, up to 10 years, or 1 year at $1,000 or less), embezzlement by bank officers and employees (18 U.S.C. 656, up to 30 years) and theft from organizations or governments receiving more than $10,000 a year in federal benefits (18 U.S.C. 666, up to 10 years).

What is the maximum penalty for wire fraud?

Wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1343 carries up to 20 years in prison. If the violation involves a presidentially declared disaster or emergency benefit, or affects a financial institution, the maximum is 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine.

Can a public employee lose a pension for embezzlement?

In many states, yes. Examples include Arizona (13-713), Connecticut (1-110a), Hawaii (88-74.8), Massachusetts (c. 32, s. 15), Missouri (105.669) and New Jersey (43:1-3.1), each with its own list of covered crimes and conditions.