Connecticut Embezzlement Laws: Larceny, Forgery and Penalties

Connecticut's Penal Code has no stand-alone embezzlement offense. Embezzlement is one form of larceny under C.G.S. 53a-119(1), and it is graded by the larceny value scale: generally a felony when the property is worth more than $2,000, and at least a Class C felony at any value when the victim is 60 or older, a conserved person, or blind or physically disabled.

An officer or agent of a public community who appropriates its property commits defrauding a public community, a felony at any value. Forgery (53a-138 to 53a-140) is graded by the kind of instrument, from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C felony, and issuing or possessing a known forged instrument is part of each degree. For other states, see our guide to embezzlement and forgery laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-18. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the Connecticut General Statutes on larceny by embezzlement and defrauding a public community (53a-119, as rewritten effective October 1, 2026), the larceny degrees and value rules (53a-121 to 53a-125b), misapplication of property (53a-129), public-servant offenses (53a-127, 53a-132), the forgery part (53a-137 to 53a-142a, plus 12-570), bad checks (53a-128), payment card forgery and theft (53a-128c, 53a-128i), money laundering (53a-276 to 53a-279), financial-institution false entries (36a-54, 36a-56), the statutes outside the Penal Code that use the word embezzlement, pension revocation (1-110 to 1-110c, 1-101a), sentencing and repeat-offender rules, the civil theft and forgery damages statutes (52-564, 52-565) and time limits (54-193). It does not cover the full larceny value table (see Connecticut larceny laws), identity theft, scams and victim reporting, federal offenses or local ordinances.

What is embezzlement in Connecticut?

Under 53a-119, a person commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate it to himself or herself or a third person, the person wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds that property from an owner. Embezzlement is the first listed form. As rewritten by Public Act 26-130, effective October 1, 2026, subdivision (1) reads:

"Embezzlement. A person commits embezzlement when such person wrongfully appropriates to such person's self or to another property of another in such person's care or custody."

The definition has two parts: the property belongs to someone else, and it is in the accused person's care or custody when he or she wrongfully appropriates it. Connecticut's older stand-alone embezzlement statutes, sections 53-354 to 53-364, were repealed in 1969 when the Penal Code consolidated them into larceny.

When the charging officer does not know whether the money was taken at one time or several, C.G.S. 54-63 provides that "it shall be sufficient to charge the total sum taken by the accused as having been taken at one and the same time."

Statutes outside the Penal Code that use the word

• Condominium escrow (C.G.S. 47-74d(c) and 47-271(c)). A declarant who fails to establish a required escrow, or a person who "procures the wrongful release of any escrow funds to the declarant or to a third party, with intent to defraud the purchaser," is deemed or declared "guilty of embezzlement" and is "punished in the manner provided by law." Neither section states a class.
• Life settlements (C.G.S. 38a-465j). The insurance title lists as a fraudulent life settlement act to "Engage in embezzlement, theft, misappropriation or conversion of moneys, funds, premiums, credits or other property" of a provider, insurer, insured, owner or others in the business. Under 38a-465l, a person who commits a fraudulent life settlement act "is guilty of committing insurance fraud and shall be subject to additional penalties under section 53a-215" (insurance fraud is a Class D felony), and the Insurance Commissioner may levy a civil penalty of up to $100,000 and the amount of the claim for each violation.

Is embezzlement a felony in Connecticut?

Generally yes once the value exceeds $2,000. Because embezzlement is larceny, the degrees in 53a-122 to 53a-125b apply:

• First degree, Class B felony: the value "exceeds twenty thousand dollars" (53a-122(a)(2)).
• Second degree, Class C felony: the value "exceeds ten thousand dollars" (53a-123(a)(1)).
• Third degree, Class D felony: the value "exceeds two thousand dollars" (53a-124(a)(1)).
• Fourth degree, Class A misdemeanor: the value "exceeds one thousand dollars" (53a-125).
• Fifth and sixth degree: a Class B misdemeanor over $500 and a Class C misdemeanor at $500 or less (53a-125a, 53a-125b).

Value means "the market value of the property or services at the time and place of the crime or, if such cannot be satisfactorily ascertained, the cost of replacement of the property or services within a reasonable time after the crime" (53a-121(a)(1)). For every larceny degree and its other triggers, see Connecticut larceny laws.

Adding thefts together

C.G.S. 53a-121(b): "Amounts included in thefts committed pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, whether from the same person or several persons, may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense."

Older, conserved and disabled victims

Larceny in the second degree, a Class C felony, includes larceny where "the property, regardless of its nature or value, is obtained by embezzlement, false pretenses or false promise and the victim of such larceny is sixty years of age or older, or is a conserved person, as defined in section 45a-644, or is blind or physically disabled, as defined in section 1-1f" (53a-123(a)(4)).

Connecticut's protective-services chapter is civil. For it, an "elderly person" is "any resident of Connecticut who is sixty years of age or older," and "exploitation" means "the act or process of taking advantage of an elderly person by another person or caregiver whether for monetary, personal or other benefit, gain or profit" (C.G.S. 17b-450(1), (7)); mandatory reporters who suspect exploitation must report it (17b-451). For warning signs and reporting, see our guide to elder financial exploitation.

Repeat larceny offenders

A persistent larceny offender is a person who stands convicted of larceny in the fourth, fifth or sixth degree (or third-degree larceny under the version in effect before October 1, 1982) and "has been, at separate times, twice convicted of the crime of larceny for violations committed during the ten years prior to the commission of the present larceny" (53a-40(e)). For a violation committed on or after October 1, 2019, the court may impose the prison term for a Class E felony if the present conviction is fourth-degree larceny, or the term for the next more serious misdemeanor if it is fifth- or sixth-degree larceny (53a-40(m)(2)).

A persistent felony offender is a person convicted of a felony "other than a class D or E felony" who was twice before convicted, at separate times, of such felonies committed during the ten years before the present felony (53a-40(g)); for that offender the court may impose the prison term for the next more serious degree of felony, but "the sentence imposed may not be less than three years," and three years of it may not be suspended or reduced (53a-40(o)). Separately, a persistent serious felony offender is a person who stands convicted of any felony and was previously "convicted of and imprisoned under an imposed term of more than one year" for a crime, in Connecticut, another state or a federal institution (53a-40(c)); the court may impose the prison term for the next more serious degree of felony (53a-40(k)).

Misapplication of property (53a-129)

A separate Class A misdemeanor applies when a person, "knowingly possessing personal property of another pursuant to an agreement that the same will be returned to the owner at a future time," loans, leases, pledges, pawns or otherwise encumbers it without the owner's consent "in such manner as to create a risk that the owner will not be able to recover it or will suffer pecuniary loss." Subsection (b) states: "In any prosecution under this section, it shall be a defense that, at the time the prosecution was commenced, (1) the defendant had recovered possession of the property, unencumbered as a result of the unlawful disposition, and (2) the owner had suffered no material economic loss as a result of the unlawful disposition."

Public officials and public money

Defrauding a public community (53a-119(6))

Defrauding a public community is another form of larceny. It covers a person who authorizes, certifies, attests or files a claim for benefits or reimbursement from a local, state or federal agency knowing it is false; knowingly accepts benefits from a false claim; or, "as an officer or agent of any public community, with intent to prejudice it, appropriates its property to the use of any person or draws any order upon its treasury or presents or aids in procuring to be allowed any fraudulent claim against such community." The order or claim is deemed property.

It is a felony at any value: larceny in the first degree, a Class B felony, when "the property is obtained by defrauding a public community, and the value of such property exceeds two thousand dollars" (53a-122(a)(3)), and larceny in the second degree, a Class C felony, when the value "is two thousand dollars or less" (53a-123(a)(3)).

Other offenses by public servants

• False entry by an officer or agent of a public community (53a-132). Making "any intentionally false entry on the books of the public community," or falsely certifying that process was personally served: a Class A misdemeanor.
• Diversion of state employee labor (53a-127). Fraudulently procuring, for oneself or another, "the benefit of any labor which the state or any department thereof is entitled to receive from such employee during his hours of employment": a Class A misdemeanor.

Pension revocation and lobbying bar

C.G.S. 1-110(3) defines a "crime related to state or municipal office" as any of these, "committed by a person while serving as a public official or state or municipal employee":

• "(A) The committing, aiding or abetting of an embezzlement of public funds from the state, a municipality or a quasi-public agency";
• "(B) The committing, aiding or abetting of any felonious theft from the state, a municipality or a quasi-public agency";
• "(C) Bribery in connection with service as a public official or state or municipal employee"; or
• "(D) The committing of any felony by such person who, wilfully and with the intent to defraud, realizes or obtains, or attempts to realize or obtain, a profit, gain or advantage for himself or herself or for some other person, through the use or attempted use of the power, rights, privileges or duties of his or her position as a public official or state or municipal employee."

On or after October 1, 2008, when a public official or state or municipal employee is convicted of, or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, such a crime in state or federal court, "the Attorney General shall apply to the Superior Court for an order to revoke or reduce the pension" (1-110a(a)). The court weighs the severity of the crime, the monetary loss, the degree of public trust, the person's role in any fraudulent scheme and other factors justice requires (1-110a(b)). It may not reduce or revoke the pension of a person who voluntarily gave information about a more culpable official before learning of a criminal investigation (1-110a(c)), and it may direct part of a reduced pension to an innocent spouse, dependents or beneficiaries (1-110a(d)). A person whose pension is revoked gets back his or her own contributions without interest, but only after satisfying in full any court-ordered restitution to the state or municipality for the crime (1-110b). If revocation would unilaterally breach a collective bargaining agreement, the court may not revoke the pension and may reduce it only by the amount needed to satisfy the criminal court's fine, restitution or other monetary order plus the cost of incarceration (1-110c), and no pension may be reduced or revoked if the IRS determines that doing so would affect the retirement plans' tax-qualified status under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (1-110b(d)).

Separately, a public official or state employee convicted of, or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to, "larceny by state embezzlement, or theft, as defined in subdivision (18) of section 53a-119," or bribery or bribe receiving, committed while serving as a public official or state employee, may not seek or accept employment as a lobbyist or otherwise act as a registrant under the lobbying chapter (1-101a(a)-(b)).

Financial institutions

• False entries by bank insiders (C.G.S. 36a-54). "Any officer, agent, or employee of any financial institution who makes any false entry upon the collection or forwarding register or any other book of any such institution, or who fails correctly to record on the books of such institution any change in its assets or liabilities, with intent to deceive the commissioner or the officers or auditors of any such institution," and anyone who aids or abets with the same intent, "shall be imprisoned not more than ten years." The section states no class.
• False statements to obtain credit (C.G.S. 36a-56). Knowingly making a false statement or report, or wilfully overvaluing property or security, with intent to defraud and to influence a bank, an out-of-state bank with a Connecticut branch, a Connecticut credit union, a small loan licensee or a licensed mortgage lender, correspondent lender or broker on a loan or extension of credit: a fine up to $500, imprisonment of not more than one year (capped at 364 days by 53a-36a), or both.

Forgery in Connecticut

Definitions (53a-137)

The definitions govern the forgery part of the Penal Code:

• A written instrument is "any instrument or article containing written or printed matter or the equivalent thereof, used for the purpose of reciting, embodying, conveying or recording information or constituting a symbol or evidence of value, right, privilege or identification, which is capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person."
• A person falsely makes a written instrument when "(A) such person makes or draws a complete written instrument in its entirety, or an incomplete written instrument, which purports to be an authentic creation of its ostensible maker or drawer, but which is not such either because the ostensible maker or drawer is fictitious or because, if real, the ostensible maker or drawer did not authorize the making or drawing thereof, or (B) such person signs his or her own name to a written instrument, thereby falsely and fraudulently representing that he or she has authority to sign in such capacity."
• A forged instrument is "a written instrument which has been falsely made, completed or altered."

Three degrees, set by the instrument

Each degree requires "intent to defraud, deceive or injure another" and covers a person who "falsely makes, completes or alters a written instrument or issues or possesses any written instrument which he knows to be forged." The forgery part (53a-137 to 53a-142a) has no separate uttering offense; issuing or possessing a known forgery is part of each degree.

• First degree, Class C felony (53a-138): the instrument is or purports to be "(1) Part of an issue of money, stamps, securities or other valuable instruments issued by a government or governmental instrumentality; or (2) part of an issue of stock, bonds or other instruments representing interests in or claims against a corporate or other organization or its property."
• Second degree, Class D felony (53a-139): "(1) A deed, will, codicil, contract, assignment, commercial instrument or other instrument which does or may evidence, create, transfer, terminate or otherwise affect a legal right, interest, obligation or status; or (2) a public record or an instrument filed or required or authorized by law to be filed in or with a public office or public servant; or (3) a written instrument officially issued or created by a public office, public servant or governmental instrumentality; or (4) a prescription" for a drug (other than a controlled drug) or a drug-administering instrument or device for which a prescription is required.
• Third degree, Class B misdemeanor (53a-140): any other written instrument.

Related forgery offenses

• Criminal simulation (53a-141). Making or altering an object, with intent to defraud, so that "it appears to have an antiquity, rarity, source or authorship which it does not in fact possess," or issuing or possessing such an object: a Class D felony.
• Forgery of symbols of value (53a-142). Forged tokens, public transportation transfers, certificates or other articles "designed for use as symbols of value usable in place of money": a Class A misdemeanor.
• Filing a false record against property (53a-142a). Filing, or causing to be filed, with a municipality, or a commercial-code record with the Secretary of the State or a municipality, a record the person "knows, or reasonably should know, is false," with intent to defraud, deceive, injure or harass: a Class D felony.
• Payment card forgery (53a-128c(f)). Falsely making or embossing a purported payment card, falsely loading one into a digital wallet, or uttering such a card, with intent to defraud: a Class D felony (53a-128i(b)). Taking a payment card without consent, including by embezzlement, is payment card theft, a Class A misdemeanor (53a-128c(a), 53a-128i(a)).
• Forged lottery or pari-mutuel tickets (C.G.S. 12-570). Forging, altering, selling or presenting a forged ticket with intent to defraud the state or a participant: a Class A misdemeanor.

If a forged or altered check was used against you, our guide to mail theft and check washing covers the victim side.

Bad checks and civil damages

Issuing a bad check (53a-128(c)) is graded by the amount of the check: a Class D felony "if the amount of the check was more than two thousand dollars," a Class A misdemeanor if more than $1,000 but not more than $2,000, a Class B misdemeanor if more than $500 but not more than $1,000, and a Class C misdemeanor at $500 or less.

Two civil statutes sit alongside the criminal ones. C.G.S. 52-564 provides: "Any person who steals any property of another, or knowingly receives and conceals stolen property, shall pay the owner treble his damages." C.G.S. 52-565 provides that anyone who "falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits any document, or knowingly utters, as true, any document falsely made, altered, forged or counterfeited, shall pay double damages to any party injured thereby."

Connecticut embezzlement and forgery offenses at a glance

The prison terms come from C.G.S. 53a-35a ("For a class B felony ... not less than one year nor more than twenty years"; "For a class C felony, a term not less than one year nor more than ten years"; "For a class D felony, a term not more than five years") and 53a-36 for misdemeanors, with any term of up to one year capped at 364 days by 53a-36a; the fines come from 53a-41 and 53a-42. These are statutory ranges, not typical sentences. See Connecticut felony classes and misdemeanor penalties for every class.

Sentencing options and restitution

When a person is convicted, the court imposes one of the sentences listed in 53a-28(b), which include imprisonment, a fine, both, or a prison term "with the execution of such sentence of imprisonment suspended, entirely or after a period set by the court, and a period of probation or a period of conditional discharge." Probation is available "upon conviction of any crime, other than a class A felony," when the court finds confinement unnecessary for public protection, the defendant needs guidance that probation can provide, and the disposition is consistent with the ends of justice (53a-29(a)).

In addition, the court "shall inquire on the record whether there are any requests by a victim for restitution," and must order restitution when the offense caused loss of property, the victim requests it and the court finds the loss (53a-28(c)). Instead of the class fine, the court may fine a person who gained money or property from the offense up to "double the amount of the defendant's gain from the commission of the offense" (53a-44).

Time limits for prosecution

C.G.S. 54-193 sets the general periods for offenses other than those listed in its subsections (a) and (b):

• "(c) No person may be prosecuted for any offense, other than an offense set forth in subsection (a) or (b) of this section, for which the punishment is or may be imprisonment in excess of one year, except within five years next after the offense has been committed."
• "(d) No person may be prosecuted for any offense, other than an offense set forth in subsection (a), (b) or (c) of this section, except within one year next after the offense has been committed."

So the felony degrees of larceny by embezzlement and first- and second-degree forgery carry a five-year period, while misdemeanor larceny (the Class A misdemeanor's maximum is 364 days under 53a-36a, which is not more than one year) and third-degree forgery carry one year. Under subsection (e), if the accused "has fled from and resided out of this state during the period so limited," the prosecution may be brought within the period counting only the time the person resides in the state. Civil deadlines are different; see the Connecticut statute of limitations guide.

Recent changes

• October 1, 2026: larceny rewritten (Public Act 26-130, section 2). The act repealed and replaced 53a-119 effective October 1, 2026. The embezzlement definition carries forward with gender-neutral wording, and the act adds new forms of larceny, including "fostering the sale of stolen property," which covers a person who "hosts, advertises or otherwise assists in the sale of stolen property, including through an online platform, knowing or believing that such property has been stolen," unless the property is held to restore it to the owner, and a new form of larceny the act names "gift card crime."
• October 1, 2026: digital defrauding (Public Act 26-119, section 1). Approved June 4, 2026 and effective October 1, 2026, this act adds a form of larceny called digital defrauding, committed "with intent to cause financial injury to another person." The Office of Legislative Research describes it as creating and disseminating a visual representation or audio recording of another person when the person "knows or should have known that it is a digitally forged likeness." Both 2026 acts number their new subdivision of 53a-119 as (19), so the final codified numbering will appear in the next revision of the General Statutes. The punishment for these larceny types follows the value of the property, as for other larceny.
• July 1, 2026: money-laundering definitions (Public Act 25-41, section 7). The act redefined "equivalent property" in 53a-275 and added definitions of "virtual currency" and "virtual currency wallet." Money laundering (53a-276 to 53a-279) is exchanging monetary instruments derived from felony conduct to conceal their criminal source or to aid or profit from criminal activity: a Class C felony when the total exceeds $10,000 and the person acts with that intent (53a-277), a Class D felony over $10,000 when the person knows the exchange will have that effect (53a-278), a Class A misdemeanor at any amount with that knowledge (53a-279), and a Class B felony when the over-$10,000 exchange is tied to the criminal sale of a controlled substance (53a-276).

Federal law separately reaches embezzlement from banks and federal programs and mail or wire fraud schemes; those offenses are covered on our embezzlement and forgery laws by state hub. If a fraud scheme targeted you, our Connecticut scam and fraud laws guide explains where to report it.

Related pages

• Embezzlement and forgery laws by state
• Connecticut larceny laws
• Connecticut felony classes and misdemeanor penalties
• Connecticut scam and fraud laws
• Connecticut statute of limitations

This article provides general legal information about Connecticut law and is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Connecticut.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is embezzlement a felony in Connecticut?

Generally when the value is over $2,000: larceny in the third degree (Class D) over $2,000, second degree (Class C) over $10,000 and first degree (Class B) over $20,000 (C.G.S. 53a-122 to 53a-124). Embezzlement of any value from a victim 60 or older, a conserved person, or a blind or physically disabled person is at least a Class C felony (53a-123(a)(4)).

What is the penalty for embezzlement in Connecticut?

It depends on the degree. A Class D felony carries up to 5 years and a $5,000 fine, a Class C felony 1 to 10 years and up to $10,000, and a Class B felony 1 to 20 years and up to $15,000 (53a-35a, 53a-41), or a fine up to double the gain (53a-44). The court must also ask whether the victim requests restitution and, when it finds a resulting loss, order it (53a-28(c)).

What is the difference between embezzlement and larceny in Connecticut?

Embezzlement is one form of larceny. Section 53a-119(1) defines it as wrongfully appropriating to oneself or another property of another in one’s care or custody, and it is graded on the same value scale as other larceny.

Is forgery a felony in Connecticut?

First-degree forgery (government money, stamps or securities; corporate stock or bonds) is a Class C felony and second-degree forgery (deeds, wills, contracts, commercial instruments, public records, government-issued instruments, prescriptions) a Class D felony. Forgery of any other written instrument is third-degree forgery, a Class B misdemeanor (53a-138 to 53a-140).

Is signing someone else’s name a crime in Connecticut?

Under 53a-137(4), a person falsely makes an instrument when it purports to be the authentic creation of its maker but is not, because the maker is fictitious or did not authorize it, or when the person signs his or her own name falsely representing authority to sign in that capacity. Forgery also requires intent to defraud, deceive or injure another.

Is there a statute of limitations for embezzlement in Connecticut?

Under C.G.S. 54-193(c), an offense punishable by more than one year of imprisonment must be prosecuted within five years after it is committed; other offenses, such as misdemeanor larceny, within one year (54-193(d)). If the accused fled from and resided out of Connecticut during the period, only the time the person resides in the state counts toward it (54-193(e)).