Answer
Qualified theft is theft committed under circumstances the law treats as more serious — most commonly by a domestic servant or with grave abuse of confidence (for example, an employee entrusted with the property), or when the thing stolen is a motor vehicle, mail matter, or large cattle, or is taken on the occasion of a calamity (Article 310).
The practical difference is the penalty: qualified theft is punished by penalties two degrees higher than ordinary theft for the same value. This is why employee theft involving abuse of confidence is charged as qualified theft and carries markedly heavier penalties.
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