We explain what extortion is, how it can occur, its legal nature, the crimes it involves and various examples.
What is extortion?
Extortion is a situation in which an individual is pressured or forced, through violence or coercion, to carry out a certain action (or inaction), for the purpose of obtaining a material or other benefit. Those who engage in this practice are called extortionists and those who suffer from it, extorted.
This word comes from Latin extorquere (“to force something out”), and is considered more or less synonymous with intimidation, coercion, or coercion. Extortion can occur through the threat of physical actions, such as violence towards the individual or their loved ones or destruction of property, or through other types of pressure, such as hindering their future social or economic activities, emotional blackmail. or emotional, etc.
Similarly, it may have the objective of forcing someone to carry out an action in a certain way, or not to carry it out, or simply to deliver a sum of money or property to their extortionists.
Therefore, extortion is considered a crime by the different legal regimes of the world. It is usually punished with prison or other appropriate sanctions, since it not only causes harm to the extorted person, but also corrupts or hinders the fair flow of social, economic or even legal relations.
See also: Corruption
Legal nature of extortion
In legal terms, extortion is classified within three simultaneous types of crime:
- Crime of seizure since there is a profit motive, that is, extortion is usually carried out to obtain a material benefit of some kind.
- Fraud crime because by forcing the extorted person to act in one way or another within what is contemplated by the law, they are deceived and the authenticity of the events carried out is subverted.
- Crime of conditional threats given that there is a real threat from the extortionists towards the extorted subject.
For this reason, the crime of extortion is considered a multi-offensive crime (that is, it violates different instances of the legal order (property, freedom and physical integrity), and is usually handled in its own and separate category.
Examples of extortion
The following cases are possible examples of extortion:
- The kidnapping from a relative to ask for a sum of money in exchange for his release (ransom).
- The threat of physical violence towards an individual or their loved ones in the event that they make a report to the authorities.
- The threat of dismissal from a boss to a subordinate who has information that incriminates him before the law or before the company authorities.
- Cyber or telephone harassment towards a person to terrorize them and thus force them to change their address, give up their aspirations or accept conditions contrary to their will in a business.
- Death threats anonymous letters to a judge to dissuade him from making a certain verdict in a legal case.
Continue with: Elements of the crime
References
- “Extortion” on Wikipedia.
- “Extortion” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “The crime of extortion” in Mundo Jurídico.info.
- “What is extortion?” in Federal Police of the Government of Mexico.
- “Etymology of Extortion” in Etymologies of Chile.net.
