Also known as: depeculate · depeculated · depeculating · peculation · embezzlement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Embezzlement of funds or property from the public treasury.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Dominic Drake, the port authority treasurer, lawfully received tax revenues into the public account under his official duties. He later transferred a portion of those revenues to a private account he controlled for personal use. Because Drake held the funds lawfully at the outset and then converted them, the conversion satisfies the elements of depeculation.
A state comptroller converted public grant money. If convicted of depeculation, the prosecution would seek a substantial criminal fine based on the amount diverted. The jury would have to determine the precise loss figure beyond a reasonable doubt before the court could impose the fine.
A municipal clerk embezzled public payroll funds through depeculation. If the state sought an enhanced sentence based on the amount taken, the fact of the loss amount would have to be submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
A county revenue officer repeatedly diverted public tax collections to her own accounts over several years. The series of conversions could form the predicate acts for a civil RICO claim brought by the state. The pattern of depeculation would supply the required continuity and relationship among the acts.
A state treasury employee was fired after evidence emerged that he had converted public funds. He sued for wrongful termination, claiming the discharge violated public policy. The court would examine whether the depeculation conduct justified the at-will termination under state law.
An offender convicted of repeated depeculation from state coffers faced an additional habitual-offender proceeding. If the state sought to apply a sterilization statute as a repeat offender, the court would assess whether the statute's classification of moral-turpitude felonies violated equal protection.
Depeculation requires that the converted property come from the public treasury rather than a private victim. The historical definition therefore adds the element that the funds or property belong to the government.
Yes. The conversion must be accompanied by fraudulent intent, the same specific intent required for embezzlement generally.
No. Traditional statutes limited embezzlement, including depeculation, to property that could be the subject of larceny, excluding real property.
…disregard of the public interest, communist sympathies, and the like usually have filled the air; and hints of bribery, embezzlement, and other criminal conduct are not infrequent." Noel, Defamation of Public Officers and Candidates, 49 Col. L. Rev. 875 (1949). For a similar description written 60 years earlier, see…