I wonder - and this is slightly tangential - how the Republic views different sorts of financial crimes.
I mean, here in the US, someone who embezzles a few million dollars - even from say a charity - is probably going to a minimum security prison. It isn't considered the same as a murder, say. Contrast this with China where people who seriously fuck up in their capacity as a corporate executive get executed with some regularity (though the ones I recall mostly had to do with negligently poisoning people with industrial waste etc., rather than strictly 'white collar' crime).
That isn't really constant, though, across societies, I think. In the Republic, where a lot of people struggle, and the money that is stolen might well have gone to Vitoxin treatment, or feeding refugees (depending on where it was stolen from) it might potentially rate up there with murder.
Part of the differences in the way China and the U.S. conceive of money and property. In China, when you embezzle a significant amount of money, you're most likely stealing from the government and breaking the trust of the Communist Party in some way. So they would conceive of it differently. A threat to national security or a traitor.
I could see the Matari viewing the crime differently depending on who you stole from. Steal billions from an foreign investment company, ok, youre going to jail for a bit. Still hundreds from your Clan, and youre untouchable scum who is in jail for decades. They might actually have a Chinese esque view of embezzlement, since its possible a lot of property is held in trust for your Clan, so embezzlement would involve a betrayal greater than mere white collar crime.
And also, what you said Silver. The Republic probably has a war footing view, since many still remember the horrors of slavery, they're in proxy war with their ancient enemies, theyre kinda the underdog, and frankly the world is a dark and horrible place. They might take a dim view of someone trying to divert funds in that kinda an environment, where every isk is needed.