Embezzlement

Legal definiton 

Section 206 of the Criminal Code:

(1) Whoever appropriates another's property entrusted to them and thereby causes non-insignificant damage to that property shall be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, disqualification, or forfeiture of the item.

(2) Whoever commits the act specified in paragraph 1 and has been convicted or punished for such an act in the last three years shall be punished by imprisonment for six months to three years.

(3) Whoever causes greater damage by the act specified in paragraph 1 shall be punished by imprisonment for one to five years or a financial penalty.

(4) Whoever commits the act specified in paragraph 1 shall be punished by imprisonment for two to eight years if 

a) they commit the act mentioned in paragraph 1 as a member of an organized group,

b) do so as a person specially entrusted with protecting the interests of the aggrieved person,

c) they commit such an act during a state of emergency, war, natural disaster, or other event seriously endangering the lives or health of people, public order, or property, or

d) they cause significant damage by such an act.

(5) Imprisonment for five to ten years shall be imposed on the perpetrator if

a) they cause large-scale damage by the act mentioned in paragraph 1, or

b) they commit such an act with the intent to enable or facilitate the commission of a terrorist criminal offence, the criminal offence of financing terrorism (Section 312d), or the threat of a terrorist criminal offence (Section 312f).

(6) Preparation is criminal.

Subjective aspect - intent

Embezzlement is an intentional criminal offence. A criminal offence is committed intentionally if the perpetrator wanted to violate or endanger a legally protected interest in the manner specified by the Criminal Code (direct intent), or if the perpetrator knew that his actions could result in such a violation or endangerment and accepted the possibility of it occurring (indirect intent).

If the act can be deemed as mere negligence rather than intent, it does not constitute the described criminal offence. 

Defense

There are various defense strategies available. Given the elements of this criminal offence, the following questions may be relevant:

• Did the perpetrator consider the item to be someone else's property?
• Was the item entrusted?
  
• Does the value of the stolen item reach the minimum threshold (10,000 CZK)?
  
• Was the perpetrator's intent directed towards the decisive facts?