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Extortion - Threat and Coercion for Personal Gain
What is extortion? Extortion
involves the act of obtaining money, property or services from another
person by coersion, force, or by threatening to cause injury or harm
unless
one’s demands are given. Extortion
is a criminal offense that is usually practiced by organized crime
groups. The
money or properties obtained by these groups are often referred
to as
“protection”.
In
many
cases, a simple threat to harm or sue a person if he/she
doesn’t pay is enough
to have a person charged with extortion. Even a person who makes an
extortionate
threat as a joke can be charged with extortion.
Extortion
can also qualify as a federal crime when the extortionate threat is
made using
the computer or internet, by phone, postal mail, or any interstate
instrument
of communication. The extortionate threat only needs to be sent to
constitute the
crime of extortion and does not necessarily need to reach the
recipient.
Unlike
robbery
where the goods are taken against the victim’s will usually
by immediate force
alone, a criminal act requires the presence of threat to be called
extortion.
Thus, a bank robbery can also turn to bank extortion if the felon hands
a
letter expressing threat to the teller if the money is not given.
Extortion
usually involves the consent of the victim but the way with which the
consent
was gained is what makes it illegal and a crime. The threat used to
commit extortion
often involves injury or harm on the person of another or damage to a
person’s
reputation.
Extortion
is considered a felony and a person charged with this crime can be
punished by heavy
fines to imprisonment or both. All states and jurisdictions in the US
have laws
against extortion. The penalty imposed for the offense depends however,
on the
gravity and nature of the case as well as the jurisdiction in which the
case is
being heard.
Other
Types
of Extortion
- Blackmail
– this is a form of extortion that involves the threat to do
something that is legal and/or allowed if money and/or property has not
been paid to the blackmailer.
- Ransom
– often used for kidnapping cases, this is the type of
extortion where the perpetrator threatens to kill the kidnap victim if
the ransom money was not given. Ransom can also pertain to an exchange
or buy back of goods, for example, that is done under threat or
compulsion.
- Bribery
– bribery only becomes a form of extortion when done under
fear, compulsion, or threat.
Extortion
in the White Collar Industry
Extortion
can also be commited in the business and professional fields and can
therefore
be a form of white collar crime. Public officials may be asked to
perform
official acts under threat which consitutes extortion while business
professionals may be forced to act against their will due to threats
and
coercion.
At
the
same time, an official in a position of authority can also be guilty of
extortion
if he/she uses his/her position and power to pressure or demand any
object that
is of value from another person even if the object doesn’t
legally belong to
him/her.
Law
enforcers can equally be guilty of extortion by making an arrest and
demanding
money and/or property under the pretense of being on official duty.
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