Question: Explain the difference between embezzlement and money laundering. Give an example of each. Strategy: Both...

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Question: Explain the difference between embezzlement and money laundering. Give an example of each. Strategy: Both crimes involve money illegally obtained, but they are very different. As to embezzlement, how did the criminal obtain the funds? In a laundering case, to what use is the criminal trying to put the cash? Result: Embezzlement refers to fraudulently taking money that is already in the defen- dant's possession. For example, if a financial advisor, lawfully entrusted with his client's funds for investing, uses some of the cash to buy himself a luxurious yacht, he has embezzled the client's money. Money laundering consists of taking illegally obtained money and either using the funds to promote additional crimes, or attempting to conceal the source of the cash. In the preceding case, the defendant laundered money when he took "investment" funds and transferred them, first to the lawyer's account, and then to various other banks, trying to disguise their origin.