Is Scamming Extortion in New York? Welcome to the Internet, where people are the worst and want money for nothing: Alice is a normal citizen of New York with an e-mail address. She receives an E-mail from Bob, a New York State Citizen, in which he claims to have sexually incriminating material collected by tapping into Alice's webcam. Bob demands money via Bitcoin to not share the material with the public. Alice does not own a Webcam so knows that such material doesn't exist, but feels annoyed and informs the police, and does also not pay. Now, in real life, we know that it is nigh impossible to trace the e-mail back to Bob, but for the exercise, assume that somehow the police manage to identify Bob based on his Bitcoin wallet into which some person they can not identify has paid. Still, they bring it to the prosecution. Bob is found to never had the material they claimed to own for any of the people he sent such mail to. New York State Prosecutor Charles wants to bring suit but then pauses: The behavior of Bob appears to be extortion, but does this fit the letter of the law? It is clearly not NYPC § 135.60, as no physical force is there, but maybe NYPC § 155.05(2)(e) could work. So Charles brings the suit under NYPC $ 155.05(2)(e)(v), because he believes that the unidentified person has been acting out of fear to be publically humiliated... Now, the question is: Is that actually the right section or might the whole case be in the wrong venue (e.g. belonging to federal court as wire fraud)?
Bob appears to have committed &quot;attempted larceny&quot; by extortion, contrary to § 155.05(2)(e)(v): (e) By extortion. A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces another person to deliver such property to himself or to a third person by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will: ... (v) Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; See § 110.00: Attempt to commit a crime. A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime when, with intent to commit a crime, he engages in conduct which tends to effect the commission of such crime. And see § 110.10 which covers the &quot;impossibility&quot; that Bob actually had compromising images from Alice's non-existent webcam: Attempt to commit a crime; no defense. If the conduct in which a person engages otherwise constitutes an attempt to commit a crime pursuant to section 110.00, it is no defense to a prosecution for such attempt that the crime charged to have been attempted was, under the attendant circumstances, factually or legally impossible of commission, if such crime could have been committed had the attendant circumstances been as such person believed them to be. (NB Bob's sentence, if found guilty, would depend the value of his attempted extortion)
There's no privilege. Under N.M. Evid. R. 11-503., New Mexico's attorney-client privilege protects communications that are: confidential; and made for the purpose of facilitating or providing professional legal services to that client; and between a client and his lawyer. The test doesn't ask if money changed hands, so paying a lawyer does not mean your communications are privileged. There are many services a lawyer can provide for money that are not shrouded behind privilege, and courts will routinely compel the disclosure of communications they deem to be &quot;business advice&quot; rather than &quot;legal advice.&quot; Bhandari v. Artesia General Hosp., 317 P.3d, 856 (2013) (&quot;Butler provided the memorandum as a mixture of legal and business advice in his capacity as both in-house counsel and a senior vice president of the Corporation. We hold that the memorandum is business advice and thus unprivileged.&quot;). And if money were required, defendants with public defenders or pro bono counsel wouldn't have privilege. Under Rule 11-503, there's no privilege for Saul's conversation with Walt and Jesse. Saul is representing Badger, who is adverse to Walt and Jesse, so there isn't an attorney-client relationship. Further, Saul isn't providing legal assistance to Walt or Jesse; he's providing them advice on how to evade detection. You could try to interpret that as a request for legal advice, but the argument would be self-defeating. Because the advice to procure a stand-in defendant would amount to concealing identity, aiding a felon, and compounding a crime, it would fall within the crime-fraud exception, which says that the privilege does not apply to communications made &quot;to enable or assist anyone in committing or planning to commit what the client knew or reasonably should have known to be a crime or fraud.&quot; Rule 11-503(D).
Yes, but that doesn't make the theft not theft At the time of the crime, Joe committed theft. The state can prosecute Joe for that theft. Alice's subsequent gift does not change this although it would prevent her from suing for recovery. As a practical matter, if Alice was willing to lie and say that the gift preceded the theft or she had given permission for the item to be taken, this would almost surely create reasonable doubt in any prosecution. However, on a pure &quot;these are the facts&quot; basis, the theft is a theft.
Under the assumption stated, the lecherous millionaire is soliciting an act of prostitution, albeit with an unusually high price. His proposal would be just as illegal (or legal) as an offer of $100 for a sexual encounter. In most jurisdictions it would be a crime. George Bernard Shaw famously asked a woman if she would have sex with him (sleep with him, I think was the wording) for a million pounds, and she hesitated and eventually said "well yes, in that case". He then asked if she would for five pounds. Her reported answer was "Mr Shaw! What do you think I am?!" to which he rejoined "We have settled that, Madam. Now we are haggling about the price." This is much the same case -- legally the amount or nature of the price does not matter. Whether this would also constitute sexual harassment would depend on the specific laws of the local jurisdiction.
The law of Washington is probably typical. Under RCW 9A.56.110, "Extortion" means knowingly to obtain or attempt to obtain by threat property or services of the owner, and specifically includes sexual favors. By RCW 9A.56.130(1), A person is guilty of extortion in the second degree if he or she commits extortion by means of a wrongful threat as defined in *RCW 9A.04.110(25) (d) through (j). Then looking at the relevant definition of threat (please note that there is a numbering error in the statute, that should be (28), I don't know if they will fix it), it says (28) "Threat" means to communicate, directly or indirectly the intent:... (e) To expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule; or (f) To reveal any information sought to be concealed by the person threatened; Second degree extortion is a class C felony. It is not first degree extortion, since that requires the threat to be (a) To cause bodily injury in the future to the person threatened or to any other person; or (b) To cause physical damage to the property of a person other than the actor; or (c) To subject the person threatened or any other person to physical confinement or restraint; Washington does not include a category of rape by extortion, though I've heard rumors that there is such a crime in some states. (It is not rape by forcible compulsion, second degree rape, because forcible compulsion is defined as "physical force which overcomes resistance, or a threat, express or implied, that places a person in fear of death or physical injury to herself or himself or another person, or in fear that she or he or another person will be kidnapped": that is, there has to be actual or threatened physical force)
Selling online is unclear. However, selling in the mail, the court has held that, based on 18 U.S.C.A. S1341 (Frauds and swindles): Therein the weight of authority is that astrologers, conjurers, fakirs, magicians, mediums, and all variety of pretenders to supernatural power, and who assume to sell the same for money, are amenable to the criminal law of false pretenses. United States v. Calwer, 282 F. 1007 (D. Minn. 1923). In prosecution for devising a scheme and artifice to defraud and using the mails in connection therewith, which scheme consisted of representations by defendant that he was gifted with supernatural powers, evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction. Crane v. U.S., C.C.A.9 (Cal.) 1919, 259 F. 480, 170 C.C.A. 456 Notwithstanding constitutional provision as to religious freedom, it was an offense to pretend to believe in supernatural powers for the purpose of procuring money and to use the mails in pursuance of such purpose. New v. U.S., C.C.A.9 (Cal.) 1917, 245 F. 710, 158 C.C.A. 112, certiorari denied 38 S.Ct. 334, 246 U.S. 665, 62 L.Ed. 928. These are mostly lower court cases (the last has a cert. denial from the Supreme Court, meaning the Supreme Court effectively upheld the lower court's decision without making it the law of the land), and both were from nearly 100 years ago. It is reasonable to assume that one would still incur liability for facilitating &quot;Frauds and swindles&quot; over the internet.
It has been investigated, it simply has not been prosecuted. The investigation started when someone reported suspicious activity in Hastert's accounts. The investigation proceeded from a belief that he was being blackmailed. After listening to a wire of a conversation between Hastert and the alleged blackmailer, the officers investigating decided it was not a simple case of him being blackmailed--they or the prosecutors' office used their discretion to go after Hastert for illegally structuring his payments to avoid anti-money-laundering reporting laws, and to my knowledge have not yet pursued any blackmail charge. Police and Prosecutors have very wide discretion regarding what charges they bring. In addition, it is very common to have a civil lawsuit brought that implicates criminal laws, but not have the criminal violations be charged. For example, if you steal a purse you go to jail, but if you steal a building you are rarely charged with a criminal offense. It is rarely to a civil litigant's advantage to bring up criminal matters and there are ethical rules limiting the interaction between the two.
IMHO, your questions reflect several misunderstandings of how the process works. So, with your permission, I will avoid directly answering your questions and instead focus on suggestions how to best help you plot a path forward. Your counterparty has the burden of proof. If your counterparty forged your signature on a contract, then they must prove you signed it or they can not enforce it. In order to enforce the contract, they will need to sue you civilly. Then you can introduce evidence of their forgery at that time. Inform your counterparty you did not sign the contract. Then act accordingly. If your counterparty forged your signature on an extension contract then you should inform them immediately after it has come to your attention. Advise them you have no intention of complying with a contract you never signed. And that if they try to enforce the forged agreement, you will defend yourself "vigorously." Never threaten criminal charges to advance your position in a civil case. This behavior is a crime in itself. It's called extortion. If you want to pursue criminal charges at some point then do it without relating it to the civil case. The police are not your only means of pursuing criminal charges. You can also schedule a meeting with your District Attorney, State's Attorney (whatever that position is called in your state) or your state's Attorney General. In other words, you might want to approach the government's attorney responsible for prosecuting crimes in your jurisdiction. Forget about involving the police. They have given you their position on the matter. Approach the DA or AG office instead. If the DA/AG decides to use the police, she we will make that decision then inform the police how she needs to use their services. Police are wary of being used as leverage in civil disputes. That's probably the reason for their policy decision regardless of whether it's technically justified by the law or not. Your counterparty can't "fix" anything. If they claim you signed a document you did not, they will have to produce that document with your signature on it. This will presumably be your Exhibit A evidence they forged it. Disclaimer: I am a lay person and not an attorney. This writing is no substitute for proper legal advice. If you need help with a specific legal situation please hire an attorney and do not rely on anything I have written here.