In its recent decision in case No. 6 Tdo 279/2026, the Supreme Court concluded that, as a general rule, an employment-law agreement on liability for entrusted property is not a prerequisite for establishing a relationship of trust between an accused employee and their employer as the injured party.

The case concerned an employee whose duties included disbursing cash from the employer’s cash desk. Using deliberately falsified accounting documents, she and a colleague managed to misappropriate almost CZK 2 million from the employer’s assets over a period of just under four years. In her defence against prosecution for embezzlement, the employee argued that she had not entered into an agreement on liability for entrusted property with her employer.

The Supreme Court, however, held that, for the purposes of criminal liability for embezzlement, the key question is whether the employee had actual control over the entrusted funds in the course of performing her duties, regardless of whether an agreement on liability for entrusted property was in place.

Authors: Helena Hailichová and Lenka Dvořáková