Good morning,

I'm sorry to hear of the situation. As your previous expert has opted out, I can assist you. I answer in Criminal Law, among other legal categories.

The fact that a person who is caught, or admits, to embezzlement voluntarily returns that property or money taken, whether it is immediately given back, or it is paid back in a payment plan----the crime of embezzlement has still occurred and the return of what was taken will not absolutely prevent the criminal prosecution of the act itself.

Now, you make the whole issue a bit more interesting by suggesting that after the fact two of the owners paid the remainder back for the employee and created more of a true loan.

This is a bit like a man having sex with his underage girlfriend, and then before being charged with a crime, marries her. Oftentimes the prosecutor simply is not of the mind to go ahead and prosecute the man. And in this case, given the actions of the owners, so long as they would argue that it was now all okay---the prosecutor might just leave it all be.

However, under the law, the criminal act would still be capable of being charged and prosecuted if the state's attorney desired to do so. There is nothing about the fact situation which would shield the employee from being charged.

I wish you the best in 2012.

I understand that you may be disappointed by the Answer you received, as it was not particularly favorable to your situation, nor was it what I sensed you were hoping to hear. Had I been able to provide an Answer which might have given you a successful legal outcome, it would have been my pleasure to do so.

Would you be kind enough to rate my answer based on the knowledge I have provided to you, and accept that I was obligated to be truthful, even if the answer was not good news for you.


Thanks you,

Doug