Embezzlement | featured news

A former bookkeeper for a cash-strapped Illinois town, who admitted embezzling $53 million to finance a lavish lifestyle centered on prize-winning horses, was sentenced Thursday to almost 20 years in prison.

Peregrine Financial Group's former chief executive embezzled more than $215 million from customers of his now-defunct futures brokerage, U.S. prosecutors said in court documents filed on Tuesday.

With funds missing or frozen, a campaign treasurer facing charges and an election 14 months away, many go looking for money. A suspected embezzlement scheme that has ensnared hundreds of campaign accounts of Democrats has sent candidates scrambling for new cash as they prepare for an election season that could reshape California's political landscape.

Federal agents have arrested a San Francisco Giants payroll manager on suspicion of embezzling more than $1.5 million from team accounts. Robin O'Connor, 41, faces federal felony charges of wire fraud and fraud in connection with a computer.

A former administrator at St. John’s University accused of embezzling about $1 million from the college in Queens has now been charged with far more lurid crimes: forcing students to clean, cook and act as her personal servants to keep their scholarships.

The mayor of a decaying village near St. Louis known for its strip clubs and beset by financial troubles and embezzlements was gunned down early Thursday, and police say his killer is still out there.

Mayor Sheila Dixon faces charges of theft and embezzlement amid accusations she used gift cards intended for needy families.