Public officeholders control and oversee public resources with little or no oversight. Sometimes, these individuals end up using the money for selfish gains. California PEN 424 prohibits the misappropriation of public funds, which is using public money without authorization for selfish gains or unauthorized purposes. A PC 424 violation attracts severe penalties because the misuse of funds results in delayed or canceled projects and a loss of public trust in government institutions. If you battle these allegations in Fresno, the California Criminal Lawyer Group can guide you in court to prevent a conviction or reduce the harsh penalties.

PEN 424 at a Glance

California Penal Code 424 criminalizes the act of a public officeholder or someone entrusted with public funds improperly using the resources in their control for personal benefits. Public officers usually handle public funds with little supervision, tempting some to utilize them inappropriately to profit themselves or others. The law understands this, which is why it makes it a white-collar crime to misuse, steal, or illegally use money belonging to the public.

You can misappropriate or appropriate public funds, resulting in PC 424 charges in many ways.

Appropriating Public Funds without Proper Authorization

The most common form of PC 424 violation is appropriating government money without authority. The offense entails using public resources for selfish gain or dishing them out unlawfully. The prosecutor will secure a sentence for this misappropriation if they can show you are a public official responsible for controlling and handling public resources. Mostly, public officials appropriate the funds for selfish financial gains or to benefit their friends and family. You will be guilty if the prosecutor demonstrates that you were criminally negligent by misusing the resources because you knew the law prohibited your conduct. These elements are further discussed below.

  1. You are a Public Officer

Public fund misappropriation charges are standard among public officials working in various cities, towns, or districts. These employees can be elected or appointed officials. Public officials can also be government-hired accountants, lawyers, or rank-and-file workers. Besides, you qualify as a public official if the prosecutor shows that you were entrusted with an obligation relating to, and have a specific level of oversight over, the receiving, safekeeping, or expenditure of government money.

For example, when you operate a nonprofit organization that receives funding from the government and withdraws funds from the organization for personal expenses, you will face charges for a PEN 424 violation even if you are not a public official. You will encounter the allegations because you are entrusted with government funds' receipt, control, safekeeping, and expenditure.

  1. You Abused Your Position to Appropriate the Funds

Appropriating means receiving public resources and utilizing them for selfish gains or the benefit of another party, like family or friends. Let us say you are a finance director of a public company financed by the taxpayer and have access to and control over the agency’s funds. Sadly, your spouse is apprehended for drinking and driving. Because you do not have money to bail her out and hire a legal representative, you withdraw funds from the agency’s account to pay bail and legal fees for your spouse. Your actions under the circumstances qualify as misappropriation or appropriation and will result in a PEN 424 violation and a possible conviction.

  1. You Recognized the Law Criminalized Your Actions or that You Were Criminally Negligent

For the prosecutor to show that you are guilty under PC 424, they must show that you recognized that the law prohibits misappropriation or was criminally negligent as you knew you should not appropriate the resources but ignored the fact or failed to conduct further research to find out if your conduct is a white collar crime.

Knowing your unlawful conduct does not mean you must understand the entire PEN 424. It means understanding that PC 424 prohibits your behavior. The prosecutor demonstrates knowledge by citing experience overseeing public resources or past knowledge of the appropriate procedures for dealing with public money. Criminal negligence or carelessness, is a more elevated form of liability than ordinary negligence. It must be gross or reckless.

For example, you are a public official directing public funds to your account. You understand that the law prohibits your actions and procedures for handling the money, but you disregard them. Under these circumstances, your actions are gross and reckless, which amounts to criminal negligence. 

Illegally Profiting from Loaning of Government Resources Without Authorization

You lend out money to make unlawful profits from this misuse of public resources. Loaning is not the same as misappropriation, although it is also illegal. If resources are intended for government use, you should not lend them, as your actions will attract a police arrest and subsequent criminal charges for PC 424 violations.

You will be guilty under this category if the prosecutor demonstrates that:

  • You are a public official or individual entrusted with handling public resources.
  • A non-criminal or penal statute prohibited you from lending or using public funds for reasons other than those intended.
  • You loaned the money to yourself or someone else, profited from it, or misused them without authority.
  • You understood that your conduct was illegal or acted with criminal negligence by disregarding the fact that your conduct was unlawful.

The prosecutor will rely on emails, bank statements, job descriptions, and responsibilities to prove you are guilty of the charges.

Fraudulently Falsifying, Altering, or Destroying Accounts

Another category of public money misappropriation is altering or falsifying accounts. PC 424 prohibits you from misrepresenting, modifying, creating, destroying, or deleting accounts or financial records relating to public resources. The law criminalizes this conduct as it interferes with public money accountability and encourages the wastage of public resources. It will help to know that even if you do not engage in the misuse or appropriation of the resources, you will still face charges under PEN 424 for knowingly tampering with accounts for fraudulent reasons.

Wrongfully Declining to Pay or Transfer Public Resources

Failure to pay or transfer public resources can attract PC 424 violation charges and a potential conviction. You will face charges under this category if you deliberately fail or omit to pay government funds in your control after receiving a draft or order drawn upon the funds by an authority when the law requires you to do so. Also, the willful omission or refusal to transfer funds received by you to a party authorized to receive the funds is a PC 424 violation. The prosecutor will use internal memos and witness statements to show that you wrongfully declined to pay government funds.

Incidental Amounts Exception

It is worth understanding that the court can make an exception for your PEN 424 violation when incidental or small amounts of public resources have been misappropriated or the misappropriation was unintentional. You will not be guilty of misuse of public resources if the court deems the amount in question minimal or not worth pursuing through civil or criminal court proceedings. The court opts not to pursue these cases because investigations and trials would cost more than the funds lost through appropriation.

Whether the misappropriated funds qualify as incidental or minimal depends on your case's nature. Also, even if the funds involved are minimal, if you have multiple accusations of misappropriation, you will face PEN 424 violation charges and penalties if convicted.

As a public official, the law expects you to exercise care and attentiveness when overseeing public resources. Besides, if there are unclear guidelines regarding the transfer or use of the resources, you should seek clarification to avoid misappropriation.

Penalties for Public Resource Misappropriation Charges

Public resource misuse is a felony. When the prosecutor secures a conviction, you will face:

  • Formal or felony probation.
  • Court-imposed financial fines not exceeding $10,000.
  • 24, 36, or 48 months of jail or prison incarceration.

The court can convert your PEN 424 violation sentence to felony probation. The program is intended to rehabilitate you into a responsible citizen. If the court sentences you to probation, you will be assigned a supervising officer to ensure you abide by the probation terms. The requirements of felony probation are:

  • Community labor.
  • Victim restitution.
  • Regular meetings with your probation officer.
  • Subject.

If you do not abide by these terms, the court will revoke your probation and send you back to jail to serve your initial sentence.

Also, a conviction will prevent you from ever holding a public office in California. The ban can have life-altering consequences if you are a state employee. Therefore, whenever you face appropriation of public resources charges, you should take the allegations seriously and hire a competent defense lawyer to guide you and fight the charges. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we will defend you against the accusation to prevent a criminal record and save your occupation in public service.

Viable Defenses

A conviction for a PC 424 violation can destroy your profession as a state worker. Additionally, a conviction will result in a ban from running for government office. Besides, your reputation is on the line because the public and media give much attention to these public funds misappropriation proceedings. With the seriousness of the charges, you want to partner with a criminal defense lawyer to contest the charges.

At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we understand that allegations of PC 424 violations do not make you guilty. Our criminal defense lawyers can use several viable defense strategies to prevent a conviction. The possible defenses include:

  1. You acted without Knowledge or Criminal Negligence

The court can only convict you of misappropriation of public resources if you were aware your conduct was unlawful or were criminally negligent by doing little or nothing to determine if your behavior was illegal. Criminal negligence has a higher liability standard than ordinary negligence, giving prosecutors a hard time proving that you were familiar with or acted with criminal carelessness.

If you honestly believed your conduct was legal but were mistaken, you can cite ignorance of the law as a defense. Nevertheless, a mistake or ignorance of the law is not a defense. You must prove that you honestly believed you were exercising your legal mandates. Even if you did not know your conduct was illegal, the court would need proof that you tried to understand the facts. If you did not try to discover the truth, your actions amount to ordinary carelessness or negligence. Nevertheless, ordinary carelessness is insufficient to convict you of public fund misappropriation.

  1. The Misappropriated Funds Were Incidental

California PEN 424 has no clear or precise definition of minimal or incidental. You will face charges if the funds are significant. Therefore, you can raise this defense depending on your case’s circumstances. Thousands of dollars can be minimal in particular situations and considerable in others. Based on the nature of the case, your lawyer can assert that the funds involved are minimal, convincing the court to drop the charges.

  1. Insufficient Evidence

During the pretrial, your defense lawyer can bring up the issue of insufficient evidence. They do this by filing a motion to suppress if they feel that evidence was obtained illegally and should not be admitted in the case.

Police sometimes engage in misconduct during apprehensions, investigations, and questioning. Some use force during interrogation, fail to recite your Miranda rights or give the court insufficient evidence. If you can prove, with the help of your lawyer, that the police engaged in misconduct, the court will allow you to bring a motion to suppress proof. When the court grants the petition, all the evidence obtained unlawfully will be dismissed, leaving the prosecutor with insufficient evidence to demonstrate you engaged in a PC 424 violation.

  1. You were Authorized to Use the Funds

Another defense you can utilize is claiming that you were authorized by a competent authority to use the funds in the manner you did. However, you must provide the court with paperwork like the budget plan, grant contract, or appropriation bill for the defense strategy to work. Even if you have the authorization, surpassing the figures provided or using the resources for another reason other than the authorized one gives the prosecutor a strong assertion. Nevertheless, you can claim that even the funds in excess were within the limit permitted by the authorities.

  1. Your Conduct Was Out of Necessity

Public officials are charged with controlling public resources. If you intend to misappropriate these resources, you can face PC 424 violation charges. For instance, you notice that a public official with competent authority wants to misuse money. You transfer the targeted funds to a private account even without reference to prevent misappropriation. Because the transfer is without authorization, you can face public fund misappropriation charges. If the case goes to trial, your lawyer will argue that you acted out of necessity to protect public money and did not intend to use the funds to enrich yourself.

  1. False Allegations

A person can falsely allege that you have engaged in public resource misappropriation. The false accusation can stem from the need to seek revenge or from jealousy. Even though people are rarely convicted of PEN 424 violations based on fraudulent charges, you could find yourself behind bars after a court has found you guilty if you lack proper legal representation. Nevertheless, with a competent defense lawyer, you can present proof that the crime never happened and that the accusations are false. It would help if you spoke to a lawyer early in the case to uncover the truth.

  1. You Were Entrapped

Under the entrapment defense, you can claim that the police or other public officials induced you to commit the crime. You could not have engaged in the misappropriation if it were not for the government officials.

However, for this defense to work, you should prove you were not predisposed to engage in the violation. Additionally, you were overcome by coercion from the other public officials. If you had plans to commit the offense, the entrapment defense would not be viable.

Criminal Record Expunction

A criminal record for misuse of public funds can devastate your reputation and career. Sometimes apprehension alone, even if it does not result in a conviction, will hurt your life. You can erase the arrest and criminal record to avoid the collateral consequences associated with arrests or convictions.

If the court grants your expunction petition, your file will be reopened and the guilty plea or conviction dismissed. Sadly, not everyone is eligible for expunction. You must complete your prison sentence or probation program to qualify. Speak to an experienced defense lawyer to evaluate your eligibility and help you file the petition. A competent lawyer will acquire your criminal record documents, establish if you qualify for relief, understand your conviction's circumstances, and know your probation status. Once they have this information, they can file the expunction motion to give you a clean slate.

With the record expunged, you do not have to disclose your conviction to potential employers or property managers, giving you an equal employment opportunity.

Related Offenses

Several white-collar crimes can be charged alongside or instead of public funds misappropriation. These are:

California Embezzlement

Per California, PC 503, embezzlement is the appropriation of another person’s property entrusted to you. Embezzlement is the same as public fund misappropriation. The only difference is you can only end up with a conviction for embezzlement when you fraudulently utilize the embezzled property for selfish gains and deprive the individual that entrusted you with the property of its use. Another critical difference between the two offenses is that embezzlement involves appropriating any property or resource that does not belong to the public or government.

The prosecutor must prove that you and the accuser had a relationship based on trust and that you derived benefits by depriving the property owner of its use. The prosecutor proves the existence of a relationship as an employee or someone tasked with overseeing the property. The penalties you will face when convicted depend on the value of the embezzled resources.

 If the embezzled resources are less than $950, you will face misdemeanor charges that attract at most twelve months of jail incarceration and a fine of no more than $1,000. When the property's value exceeds $950, the offense is a wobbler, meaning the prosecutor can charge it as a misdemeanor or felony. A felony sentence attracts at most $10,000 in financial court fines and 36 months in prison. Additionally, the penalty will affect your status as an immigrant. So, you should take the charges seriously and hire a defense lawyer.

You should note that if the embezzled property belongs to the government, you will face PEN 424 violation charges.

Bribery By or Of a Government Worker or Executive Officer

Public workers or officials can also be charged with bribery under PEN 67 and 68. However, even individuals who are not government workers face these charges when they attempt to bribe government officials. Bribery by or on behalf of public officials means giving government officials something valuable or money to influence their decisions or how they perform their work. Besides, government workers can face charges when they solicit cash or valuable items to engage in corruption.

For the prosecutor to convict you, they must demonstrate that you received or gave a bribe. The public officials commonly charged with bribery are:

  • Jurors and judicial officials.
  • Legislators.
  • Executive officers.

When you are a government official who obtains or solicits bribes, you will face felony charges under PEN 67. A conviction will attract state prison incarceration for at most forty-eight months. Additionally, the court will impose a monetary fine depending on the circumstances. You will pay a court fine of $2,000 to $10,000 if you never obtained the bribe. If you receive a bribe, the court fine will be $2,000, or twice the bribe figure.

Other consequences of a conviction include forfeiture of public office and a ban from ever holding a public position, which hurts your future job prospects. When you are accused of government fund appropriation, you will likely face charges for PC 67 violations too.

Find an Experienced White Collar Offenses Lawyer Near Me

Misuse of government funds has severe consequences. The public loses trust in government institutions when projects are delayed or canceled. As a result, misappropriation of government funds is harshly punished. Luckily, legal defenses are available that you can utilize to contest the allegations. If you face PEN 424 violation charges in Fresno, the California Criminal Lawyer Group can help you navigate the complex procedure. Call us today at 559-712-8377 for a no-obligation consultation.