I always assume embezzlers are just people who have higher tolerance for boundary pushing. Exploring boundaries is a primal urge. Kids learn to do it at a young

I always assume embezzlers are just people who have higher tolerance for boundary pushing. Exploring boundaries is a primal urge. Kids learn to do it at a young age. If you have ever trained an animal, you know they do it also. To me, embezzlement always appears as someone who pushed "perks of the job" into illegality. If you are going to be a successful embezzler the lag between pushing a boundary (from small office supplies, to stealing petty cash, to full on corporate embezzlement) must be pretty long. By the team the punishment comes, there is enough time to disconnect the action from the result and create alternate justifications. This gives a people a long time to escalate. Being a likable person likely gives you even more time. In the corporate world the lines are also a bit fuzzier. Is expensing a not-quite business dinner with overpriced wine embezzlement? Depends on who you ask. But doing so will surely embolden your next action. These people probably also display some level of narcissism/sociopathy. Minimizing victims by calling them "small people." Nonrecognition of emotional damage. I wonder how many of these people surround themselves with a cadre of enablers who are more willing to look the other way. And when its all said and done, they are on to the next thing.