It is always a crime of the second degree accompanied by 5 to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. Since this threat would be carried out at a later time it was considered extortion.Įxtortion has very serious consequences. McKiver, the victim was threatened with a gun and told if he did not pay $10,000 the next day he would be killed. Extortion requires a threat of future consequences if certain demands are not met. Extortion also differs from robbery by the lack of threats of immediate harm. Some of these examples are legal by themselves, like revealing an embarrassing story about the victim to a news source or testifying, but when accompanied by a demand for property or money in order to buy silence it becomes extortion.Įxtortion has to be purposeful and unlawful if the accused honestly claims the property as restitution for harm done or lawful compensation for services than this is not extortion. The most important part of an extortion case is the initial threat to cause any number of the previous examples to occur if a certain payment is not met. There are four elements to extortion: The defendant received property or money from the victim, the property was received as result of one of the previous threats mentioned, the threat was made in order to receive money or property, and the demand for property or money is illegitimate. Inflict any other harm which would not substantially benefit the actor but which is calculated to materially harm another person.Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another's legal claim or defense or.Bring about or continue a strike, boycott or other collective action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act.Take or withhold action as an official, or cause an official to take or withhold action.Expose or publicize any secret or any asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to impair his credit or business repute.Accuse anyone of an offense or cause charges of an offense to be instituted against any person.Inflict bodily injury on or physically confine or restrain anyone or commit any other criminal offense.A person extorts if he purposely threatens to: The statute N.J.S.A 2C:20-5 defines theft by extortion as:Ī person is guilty of theft by extortion if he purposely and unlawfully obtains property of another by extortion. Extortion is the act of an individual making threats against another individual with the purpose of taking money or property from the victim. Anyone with authority or access to valuable information, from government officials to business executives, is susceptible to participating in extortion and facing criminal charges.Theft by extortion is a very serious crime under New Jersey Law. Other threats include erasing data or posting financial information, such as credit card numbers, online.ĭespite public perception, extortion is not something that only applies to organized crime or anonymous hackers. This type is now the most lucrative computer crime, according to Risk Management Magazine, outranking theft of intellectual property. Ransomware, a type of malware, encrypts important files and other needed data on a computer so the user cannot access them without paying for a decryption code.Īnother method is attacking a business’s computer network so it shuts down and then demanding money to end the attack. The intent is to ruin the person’s reputation unless he or she pays to keep the damaging information private.Ī more recent form of extortion uses computers to reach targets.
It entails the threat to reveal embarrassing or scandalous information about the person to loved ones or the public. The person’s family members and friends may also be the recipient of these threats.īlackmail is probably the most well-known type.
The overarching definition of extortion is to force or threaten someone in order to receive money or property from the person. Most terms for criminal activities are general categories comprising various ways people can commit that crime. The first part of building a strong criminal defense case is understanding the charges.
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