My partner stole money from our accounts without my knowledge. What should I do?

Yes, you have civil and criminal possibilities. Your civil causes of action include conversion, fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty (to you). Criminal charges involve reporting the conduct to law enforcement authorities and having them file in court. I'd file a police report and ask them what your chances are of obtaining a prosecution and who to contact within your prosecutor's office for more information and assistance. Sometimes assistance from an attorney knowledgeable in these matters can help get the prosecutor on board. Good luck - sorry you have to deal with this! This response is for general purposes only, is not legal advice and does not constitute an attorney client relationship with the questioner.

If there's not a lot of money involved, it will hard to get the police interested enough to recommend prosecution to the DA, and similarly, it may not be cost-effective to sue him, except maybe in Small Claims court for conversion and breach of fiduciary duty. I'd close the checking account or move the money to a new one so he can't abuse the partnership anymore. If this is an oral partnership, send him written notice that the partnership is dissolved and he longer has authority to act on its behalf. If he won't repay the money he's taken, sue him.

Close the account immediately. You have a claim against your partner for converting partnership funds, which is a claim that he took funds he was not entitled to. Whether or not you can get an attorney to take this case will likely depend upon the amount of converted funds involved. If it is only several thousand dollars, you might consider checking the maximum amount which you can claim in a small claims suit, which you can bring without legal counsel. Again, depending upon the amount of funds involved, I agree that the police may or may not be interested. Often times if it is a smaller amount, they will just tell you to pursue your civil remedies.

Law Offices Michael J. Brooks, Esquire (215) 230-3761 [email protected] “Perspective from the Legal Vantage Point” www.Law-Brooks.com Generally, citizens of the Commonwealth may turn over the information to the county District Attorney’s Office, and request restitution, where the person convicted of a crime is ordered to repay the victim. It is up to the DA's office if they want to pursue the mater. Alternatively, like most crimes, the criminal’s underlying actions usually violate criminal law and civil law at the same time. So, in this case, you can sue your partner for a “breach of fiduciary duty”. A business fiduciary duty, in Pennsylvania, requires a partner to act honestly and in good faith to achieve the best interests for the company. An example of a breach of this fiduciary duty is when a partner uses company property for his or her personal profit, without the informed consent of the other partner. In addition to suing him for breach of fiduciary duty, if he deliberately ran the business into the ground, then you can also sue him for the loss by filing a derivative action against him on the business’ behalf.