The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act outlines dozens of crimes that count as racketeering. RICO was passed in 1970 to address organized crime’s infiltration of legitimate enterprises. The most serious crimes include any act or threat related to the following:
MurderKidnappingGamblingArsonRobberyBriberyExtortionDealing in obscene matterDealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical
However, dozens of additional crimes can also be prosecuted under RICO, including:
Embezzlement from pension and welfare fundsExtortionate credit transactionsTrafficking in firearmsTampering with a witness, victim, or an informantPossessing, developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, or acquiring biological weapons
The federal government can prosecute any enterprise with “a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt,” defined as being committed by an individual or group twice within a 10-year window. RICO charges can be pressed at the state and federal levels. States may model racketeering charges after federal charges.
Examples of Racketeering
An example of racketeering might include a gang acquiring money through murders, money laundering, drug trafficking, and home invasion robberies. RICO conspiracy charges could be levied against gang members committing the crimes. Another racketeering example might be a contracting company employee conspiring with the company owner to commit visa fraud and foreign-labor contracting fraud for financial gain. Together, they force agricultural laborers to work for low pay by confiscating the workers’ passports and isolating them from interactions with the outside world. Another example might include state employees receiving money for creating false IDs and registrations for stolen vehicles.
Types of Racketeering
Business Racketeering
Organized crime might infiltrate and use a legitimate business such as a store or nightclub as a front to commit gambling, extortion, money laundering, or loan-sharking. A few examples might include a drug dealer’s use of drug-trafficking proceeds to operate a legitimate business, or an organized-crime figure intimidating a business owner into selling the business to the criminal, who then uses it for loan-sharking or predatory loans.
Labor Racketeering
With labor racketeering, criminals infiltrate, corrupt, or attempt to control workers’ unions, employee benefit plans, or workforces for personal or financial gain. Crimes committed include employer extortion by threatening work stoppages, picketing, or sabotage. They could also include requesting bribes from the employer in exchange for ignoring the union’s collective-bargaining agreement. Labor racketeering might include defrauding benefit plans as well.
Cyber-Racketeering
Racketeering can happen online as well. Cyber-racketeering crimes typically are committed by criminal organizations using tech hacking tools to steal money and information from individuals, businesses, and government agencies. Federal racketeering charges have been levied against people who have used phishing emails, fraudulent online auctions, malware, or customer service impersonation at sites such as eBay.
Running an ongoing criminal enterpriseParticipating in a pattern of crimes as part of an ongoing criminal organizationConspiring to commit these crimes
