Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.[1]
Originally and often still specifically, racketeering may refer to an organized criminal act in which the perpetrators offer a service that will not be put into effect, offer a service to solve a nonexistent problem, or offer a service that solves a problem that would not exist without the racket. However, racketeers may offer an ostensibly effectual service to solve an existing problem. The traditional and historically most common example of such a racket is the "protection racket", in which racketeers offer to protect a business from robbery or vandalism; however, the racketeers will themselves coerce or threaten the business into accepting this service, often with the threat (implicit or otherwise) that failure to acquire the offered services will lead to the racketeers themselves contributing to the existing problem. In many cases, the potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it, but that fact may be concealed, with the intent to engender continual patronage. The protection racket is thus often a method of extortion, at least in practice.
However, the term "racket" has expanded in definition over time and may now be used less strictly to refer to any continuous or repeated illegal organized crime operation, including those that do not necessarily involve fraudulent or coercive practices or extortion. For example, "racket" may refer to the "numbers racket" or the "drug racket", neither of which generally or necessarily involve extortion, coercion, fraud, or deception with regard to the intended clientele. Because of the clandestine nature of the black market, most proceeds made from criminal rackets often go untaxed.
The term "racketeering" was coined by the Employers' Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in the Teamsters Union.[2] Specifically, a racket was defined by this coinage as being a service that calls forth its own demand, and would not have been needed otherwise.[2]
Examples of crimes that may be alleged to be part of a pattern of racketeering activity include
A protection racket is a form of extortion whereby racketeers offer to "protect" property from damage in exchange for a fee, while also threatening (possibly in a veiled way), in part or in whole, to execute the kind of damage they claim to be offering protection against.
A fencing racket is an operation specializing in the resale of stolen goods.
On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968), commonly referred to as the "RICO Act", became United States law. The RICO Act allowed law enforcement to charge a person or group of people with racketeering, defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a ten-year period. The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as "the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce". S.Rep. No. 617, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 76 (1968). However, the statute is sufficiently broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce.
Section 1961(10) of Title 18 provides that the Attorney General of the United States may designate any department or agency to conduct investigations authorized by the RICO statute and such department or agency may use the investigative provisions of the statute or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law. Absent a specific designation by the Attorney General, jurisdiction to conduct investigations for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1962 lies with the agency having jurisdiction over the violations constituting the pattern of racketeering activity listed in 18 U.S.C. § 1961.[3]
In the US, civil racketeering laws are also used in federal and state courts.
^"What is racketeering? The crime, explained". CNN. 26 March 2019.
^ abDavid Witwer, "'The Most Racketeer-Ridden Union in America': The Problem of Corruption in the Teamsters Union During the 1930s", in Corrupt Histories, Emmanuel Kreike and William Chester Jordan, eds., University of Rochester Press, 2004. ISBN1-58046-173-5
^"Organized Crime and Racketeering". Usdoj.gov. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
racketeering, wire, room, redirects, here, film, wire, room, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, . Wire room redirects here For the film see Wire Room This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Racketeering news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive fraudulent extortionary or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation a racket to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit 1 Originally and often still specifically racketeering may refer to an organized criminal act in which the perpetrators offer a service that will not be put into effect offer a service to solve a nonexistent problem or offer a service that solves a problem that would not exist without the racket However racketeers may offer an ostensibly effectual service to solve an existing problem The traditional and historically most common example of such a racket is the protection racket in which racketeers offer to protect a business from robbery or vandalism however the racketeers will themselves coerce or threaten the business into accepting this service often with the threat implicit or otherwise that failure to acquire the offered services will lead to the racketeers themselves contributing to the existing problem In many cases the potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it but that fact may be concealed with the intent to engender continual patronage The protection racket is thus often a method of extortion at least in practice However the term racket has expanded in definition over time and may now be used less strictly to refer to any continuous or repeated illegal organized crime operation including those that do not necessarily involve fraudulent or coercive practices or extortion For example racket may refer to the numbers racket or the drug racket neither of which generally or necessarily involve extortion coercion fraud or deception with regard to the intended clientele Because of the clandestine nature of the black market most proceeds made from criminal rackets often go untaxed The term racketeering was coined by the Employers Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in the Teamsters Union 2 Specifically a racket was defined by this coinage as being a service that calls forth its own demand and would not have been needed otherwise 2 Contents 1 Examples 2 RICO Act 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksExamples EditExamples of crimes that may be alleged to be part of a pattern of racketeering activity include A protection racket is a form of extortion whereby racketeers offer to protect property from damage in exchange for a fee while also threatening possibly in a veiled way in part or in whole to execute the kind of damage they claim to be offering protection against A fencing racket is an operation specializing in the resale of stolen goods A numbers racket is any unauthorized lottery or illegal gambling operation Money laundering and other creative accounting practices that are misused in ways to disguise sources of illegal funds Organized coordinated and repeated or regular theft operations including pickpocketing burglary smash and grab home invasion gasoline theft metal theft train robbery armed robbery bank robbery and art theft Organized retail crime and shoplifting Fraud and embezzlement operations including credit card fraud check fraud health care fraud welfare fraud insurance fraud employment fraud lottery fraud disability fraud charity fraud mail and wire fraud securities fraud bank fraud mortgage fraud telemarketing fraud return fraud false billing and electoral fraud Confidence tricks including romance scams larceny overpayment scams and advance fee scams Mail robbery and package theft rings Truck theft auto theft and chop shop operations Counterfeit operations including Counterfeit consumer goods such as counterfeit medications counterfeit electronic components counterfeit watches copyright infringement art forgery and identity document forgery Illegal taxicab operations Identity theft and sale of personal data Kidnapping and ransom rings Contract killing or murder for hire services White collar financial crime operations including front running market manipulation and insider trading Bribery and police corruption Organized academic dishonesty by school administrators essay mills contract cheating diploma mills Loan sharking rackets Computer crimes Drug trafficking operations including depressants opioids stimulants entactogens hallucinogens designer drugs performance enhancing substances and unlicensed pharmaceuticals Arms trafficking operations including gun running knife running and sale of explosives Extortion rackets Blackmail operations Counterfeit money and counterfeit coin operations Organized prostitution operations including procuring sex work sexual tourism and commercial sexual exploitation of children Cigarette smuggling rackets Organized witness tampering and intimidation Modern piracy rackets Business skimming operations Illicit gems and blood diamond operations Illegal gambling bookmaking and match fixing Human trafficking rings including trafficking of children sex trafficking labor trafficking bride buying and debt bondage People smuggling rings Antiquities trade operations Organ trafficking rings Rum running rackets or alcohol smuggling caffeinated alcoholic drink operations illegal sale of alcohol to minors and moonshine operations Illegal nuclear power trade operations Illegal subleasing rackets Criminal operation of otherwise ostensibly legal operations such as strip clubs hotels restaurants casinos nightclubs bars pornographic film studios social clubs construction companies salvage yards auto shops laundromats dry cleaners waste management firms farms property development companies hospitals television studios newsrooms clinics music stores hardware stores fisheries airline companies shipyards florist shops and fashion companies Political corruption Corporate corruption Bid rigging and price fixing Labor corruption or labor racketeering No show jobs Backyard breeding operations of animals such as working dogs working cats livestock and other kinds of domesticated animals as well as exotic pets Illegal sports including underground fight clubs street racing and baiting Poaching and overfishing Illegal logging illegal construction and illegal mining Blood sports such as dog fighting organized horse fighting betta fighting ram fighting cockfighting and bullfightingRICO Act EditMain article Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act On October 15 1970 the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act 18 U S C 1961 1968 commonly referred to as the RICO Act became United States law The RICO Act allowed law enforcement to charge a person or group of people with racketeering defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a ten year period The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce S Rep No 617 91st Cong 1st Sess 76 1968 However the statute is sufficiently broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce Section 1961 10 of Title 18 provides that the Attorney General of the United States may designate any department or agency to conduct investigations authorized by the RICO statute and such department or agency may use the investigative provisions of the statute or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law Absent a specific designation by the Attorney General jurisdiction to conduct investigations for violations of 18 U S C 1962 lies with the agency having jurisdiction over the violations constituting the pattern of racketeering activity listed in 18 U S C 1961 3 In the US civil racketeering laws are also used in federal and state courts See also EditAddiopizzo Confidence trick Pizzo extortion References Edit What is racketeering The crime explained CNN 26 March 2019 a b David Witwer The Most Racketeer Ridden Union in America The Problem of Corruption in the Teamsters Union During the 1930s in Corrupt Histories Emmanuel Kreike and William Chester Jordan eds University of Rochester Press 2004 ISBN 1 58046 173 5 Organized Crime and Racketeering Usdoj gov Retrieved 2012 02 18 External links Edit Organized Crime Oxford Bibliographies Online Criminology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Racketeering amp oldid 1129099769, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
