Prosecutions under RICO might include allegations of extortion against public officials to obtain favorable actions or hinder investigations. Racketeering is a broad category of actions related to organized crime, often including extortion. How Is Extortion Different from Racketeering? Certain federal officials are subject to additional statutes of regulations regarding extortion, such as laws prohibiting customs officials from demanding additional fees at ports. Threats to federal or foreign officials in order to obtain some sort of official benefit may also be prosecuted as extortion under federal law. Under federal law, the offense of extortion typically requires the use of interstate communications to make a threat. The statute prohibits a person (1) from obtaining someone else’s property or “an official act of a public officer ” (2) by wrongfully using force against the person, instilling fear of harm in the person, or acting “under color of official right.”Įxtortion may be prosecuted under federal law when it involves interstate communications or the extortion of a federal or foreign official. Large-scale extortion, such as extortion performed by or on behalf of an organization, may be prosecuted as racketeering under statutes like the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).Ĭalifornia’s extortion statute, which defines the offense based on two elements, the alleged perpetrator’s objective and the means used, offers a good example of extortion’s legal definition. Extortion that involves the use of information, rather than force, in order to coerce someone is classified as blackmail in some jurisdictions. One form of extortion, commonly known as “protection,” involves a promise to refrain from a harmful action, which by necessity implies a threat of harm, in exchange for ongoing payments. This could consist of physical harm, financial harm, destruction of property, or abuse of official power. Many jurisdictions classify extortion as a “crime against property” or a theft-related offense, but the threat of harm to a person is an essential element of the offense. Even if it is one person's words against another's, at least it can go to court, and the victim has a chance of being protected.The use of force, or the threat of force, to obtain money, something else of value, or services from a person is often known as the criminal offense of extortion. It's always good to have some form of legal discouragement in place for things like this. Without them in place to deter individuals from attempting this, we might see a lot more of it. It worked the first few times, but my mom caught on before long and confronted her about it.īlackmail may be hard to prove, but I'm just glad that blackmail laws exist at all. I think this is a really dirty thing to do. Do your husband and kids mean more to you than your own father?” When my mother says that she has other obligations and can't help, my aunt says things like, “He really needs you. My aunt asks for help too often, in our opinion. My mother agreed to help out as necessary, but since she has five kids and is a very busy lady, she doesn't have time to do much. My aunt is single and has no children, so she agreed to be his main caretaker. My grandfather is bedridden, and my aunt often guilts my mother into taking over what should be her responsibilities regarding him. Some members of my family are bad about using emotional blackmail to get what they want. However, if an employee knows that the business is doing something illegal and they threaten to reveal that, this might just be motivation enough for the business to give the employee that raise. I understand that threatening a business with something like revealing a secret recipe might result in a conviction and jail time for the blackmailer. I have heard blackmail stories about disgruntled workers who used commercial blackmail to get promotions or raises. She also used, “I won't be your friend anymore if you don't do this for me.” “This” could be anything from letting her copy my homework to giving her one of my decorative pens.Ĭommercial blackmail sounds like something that would usually be attempted by someone on the inside. She would say, “If you really were my friend, you would give me that cookie.” I usually ended up breaking it in half and compromising. She used to ask me to give her parts of my lunch at school, even though she had already bought a lunch. August 15, – My best friend in third grade used to be the queen of emotional blackmail! She really knew what she was doing.
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