Problem:
Hank works in the accounting department at a large retailing operation. Hank was having lunch with one of the clerks who works under him and was discussing ways to prevent embezzlement. Soon Hank was discussing how he and the clerk could embezzle funds rather than how they could prevent embezzlement. Hank and the clerk decided they would use a particular scheme that Hank had read about recently. Several weeks later a computer vendor was visiting with Hank trying to sell Hank's company a new computer system. The vendor offered Hank a $5,000 bribe to get the company to buy the system. Hank accepted the bribe and received $5,000 in cash from the vendor. Hank then ran several test transactions with the vendor's system to see if his embezzlement scheme that he had discussed with the clerk would be detected on the vendor's new computer system. Hank could not tell from this test run whether his embezzlement scheme would work. For comparison, Hank then tried the same scheme on the current system at his company, but was unable to transfer any funds to his own account. Discuss the criminal liability at this point of Hank, the accounting clerk, and the corporation that Hank works for.