Lawyer Directory. Call us at 1 Extortion: Laws, Penalties, and Sentencing. Attempting to obtain money or other valuables by means of a threat is extortion. Crime of Extortion The crime of extortion traditionally covered only actions by public or government officials, though today the crime applies to actions by private citizens as well.
Extortion is based upon some type of threat. The person making the threat must state an intention to commit an injury or harmful action against the victim. For example, under California's law, a person can commit extortion by threatening to injure the victim or another person, accuse the victim of a crime or of some other disgraceful conduct, expose a secret, or report a person to immigration.
A person can make the threat verbally, in writing, or even through non-verbal gestures or other communications. In some states, merely making a threat is enough to qualify as a crime. A person commits extortion when making a threat with the specific intention of forcing someone else to provide money, property, or something of value.
However, intent is not based on the defendant's statements alone, but rather upon the circumstances and facts surrounding the threat. In other words, a prosecutor can prove the accused intended to deprive the victim of property without having to actually show what was going on in the defendant's head.
When someone makes a threat or attempts extortion, the threat itself must be able to cause fear in the victim. United States v. Xiao Qin Zhou, F. However, when the offense is committed by a public officer, the penalty can include forfeiture of office. In some states, including California, an extortion victim can bring a civil action and recover pecuniary and punitive damages from the accused.
In blackmail, a threat may or may not consist of physical injury to a threatened person or to someone loved by that person. In some cases, the threat would be to expose an illegal act previously committed by the victim if the victim fails to submit to a demand.
Punishment for blackmail can include a fine, imprisonment, or both. Generally, blackmail is synonymous with extortion. Some states distinguish blackmail from extortion by demanding that blackmail must be in writing in order to make it punishable. The terms extortion and blackmail are sometimes said to involve different behaviors. Often, extortion refers to a threat made by a public official, while blackmail refers to a threat to collect money illegally.
A threat involves an act of coercion. It is an expression of an intention to inflict an evil or injury on another person. Robinson v. Bradley, F. The threat must be to act in such a way that the victim will reasonably fear a negative response. A threat is also defined as a menace that keeps the mind of a person upon whom a threat operates unsettled. Generally, a threat is one of the elements of extortion or blackmail.
In order to punish an offense of extortion, the prosecution must show that the motive of the threat was to obtain money, property, or some other thing of value. But under some statutes, the threat is considered as an independent offense. Thus a threat without any motive may also punishable in some jurisdictions. Hooks, U. Most essential is the use of a threat in order to obtain money or anything of value which constitutes the crime of extortion.
Intent is also regarded as an element of extortion. Extortion is a specific intent crime requiring a state of mind to commit the crime. Generally, a demand or a request for a specific sum of money is not considered a prerequisite to a conviction of extortion. People v. Hesslink, Cal. It was observed in People v. Fort, Mich. It is to be noted that a threat was not considered to be necessary for the commission of extortion in common law.
However, in many jurisdictions, the crime of extortion has been expanded to include the obtaining of money, property, or anything of value by any person, by means of a threat. It is vital to differentiate between nature of threats which are required to constitute an extortion or black mail. Generally, a threat means something that ordinarily creates fear. Oppenheimer, Cal. A threat is used as a means to obtain money or other things of value for the purpose of gain to the person making the threat.
Even an attempt to obtain something for another person is sufficient for the crime of extortion. State v. Taylor, 30 Wn. Aguon, F. Guam The Anti-Racketeering Act or Hobbs Act prescribes heavy criminal penalties for acts of robbery or extortion that affect interstate commerce.
To be more specific, the Anti-Racketeering Act or Hobbs Act manifests a purpose to use all the constitutional power Congress has to punish interference with interstate commerce by extortion, robbery, or physical violence. Bailey, F. Courts have consistently held that the Hobbs Act must be given an expansive interpretation to cover a wide range of extortionate activity.
The Hobbs Act provides for the criminal punishment of persons who interfere with commerce by the use of threats or violence. Blair, F. In this article, we will examine the primary difference between the crimes of 'extortion' and 'blackmail'. Often these crimes are easily confused together. We will also discuss the definition of the said crimes under UAE law and the relevant legal provisions relating to them. It involves the use of coercion of some form, either a physical force or a threat of some other type to the person or property, in order to obtain from the victim any money, property, other valuables or services.
However, this crime does not include the factors of threat to the victim's person or property; and instead, the threat is of different nature, such as threatening to disclose embarrassing information about someone that may potentially damage their reputation or affect their personal relations. The important factor considering blackmail is that the threat in itself does not need to be illegal or even true in order for it to be considered as blackmail. The objective of such an act is to obtain from the victim, money or other favors by imposing such a threat.
Pursuant to articles and of the UAE penal code, the crime of extortion is said to occur when a person uses force or threat to compel another person to deliver money or other valuables or to sign any document etc. When considering blackmail, pursuant to the provisions of the UAE penal code, Article states that if the threat caused to a person concerns divulging or attributing any immoral act to them, then such crimes would be considered as an aggravating circumstance and thus a higher penalty will be imposed.
Pursuant to the Federal decree-law no. The punishment can include imprisonment of up to two years and fines ranging from Dirhams , to , Deportation may also be imposed if the crime is committed by a foreigner.
Article Shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of two years at most and a fine, not less than two hundred fifty-thousand dirhams and not in excess of five hundred thousand dirhams or either of these two penalties whoever uses a computer network or information technology means to extort or threaten another person to force him to engage in or prevent him from engaging in a certain act.
The punishment shall be imprisonment up to ten years if the subject of threat is to commit a felony or engage in matters against honour or morals.
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