Embezzlement cases, once a rarity locally, have showed a tremendous jump in recent years, according to figures from the Mount Airy Police Department.

Arrests for that crime, as well as a related offense — larceny by employee — doubled from 2003 through 2008, based on police statistics.

During 2008, 19 arrests for those violations occurred in Mount Airy, a slight increase from the year before when 18 arrests were made for either embezzlement or larceny by employee.

However, the activity for the two most recent years reveals a significant increase when compared to the number of arrests for those crimes in 2003 — when nine occurred in the city.

Tim Hodges, a Mount Airy detective, said in his opinion, the increase in these white-collar crimes is a reflection of the economic problems of recent years, including higher prices for gas and other necessities. This might be making people more desperate and prone to committing crimes they normally wouldn’t, he indicated.

“I don’t have any statistics to back that up,” Hodges added of the relationship between the jump in embezzlements and the sagging economy.

One element the higher arrest totals does reflect, the city detective said, is the fact that serious thefts aren’t always committed by a man with a gun wearing a mask. “It’s not limited just to blue-collar criminals,” Hodges said. “There are white-collar criminals, too.”

For example, a major embezzling case was uncovered last year in which a former employee of a local rental business that accepts Duke Energy Corp. payments was charged with stealing nearly $38,000 from that company. The woman allegedly pocketed funds paid by customers instead of forwarding them to the utility.

Two other noteworthy cases already have surfaced so far in 2009.

In one, a worker at Goody’s Family Clothing in Forrest Oaks Shopping Center was charged with embezzlement in early February for allegedly issued store gift cards to herself without paying for them.

Earlier this year, on Jan. 31, another woman was charged with embezzlement from Mayberry Business Center on West Lebanon Street after falsely telling police she had been robbed of money at gunpoint by two black males.

In North Carolina, embezzlement is a felony punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine or both. The charge of larceny by employee also is a felony.

Along with the punishment meted out by the justice system and the damage to a person’s reputation from an arrest, having such a conviction on one’s record can severely limit future employment opportunities.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.