Question

Thank goodness! The day is almost over at Gimme & Aye… or so you thought. You have been interning at the Law Offices of Gimme and Aye for the summer, and you have been exposed to many legal issues. The hours have been long, but rewarding. As you daydream about your upcoming weekend, Bob busts into the office. Bob’s reputation precedes him. He has a track record of getting himself into trouble. Jim, the boss, flags you over. Jim: “I know Bob got himself into trouble again. Take his statement, ask questions as you need, then come back to me for further instructions.” You sit with Bob to take his statement. You: “Hello Bob, I am here to take your statement.” Bob: “Hi there, I may have gotten myself into trouble. I am out on bail. I came straight here as soon as I could.” You: “Do you know why you were arrested?” Bob: “They said something about a RICO violation. Then they brought a few other things that I had done, and yada yada, bla bla” You: “Well why don’t you take it from the top, so that we can analyze this better?” Bob: “Okay, Here is goes. I worked at the Bait shop for about a year and half. Everything was going well in the beginning. I handled the financing, and other money stuff, while the other employees handled the other customer-facing parts of the business. “ “Then one day, I found out how much the business owner was making. Then I compared it to how much I was making. It made my blood boil. So, I starting to move the money around to that I could take a little extra for myself. The business owner never found out until recently.” “Then, the business owner, went and opened another store across town. He then sold to me the original store. So, I thought to myself, ‘what am I going do with this store? I would rather just have some money.’ And that is when it hit me. If there was ‘an accident’, then I could just collect on the insurance money. So I struck a match, dropped it, and let the place burn to ground.” “I was okay with what I did, but I thought now I have the money that I took when I handled financing, and the insurance payout – I am going to have to do something with this money to make it legit. So, I invested it in a coffee shop that was one town over.” “I am not sure how the law caught up with me, but they did, and they keep talking out RICO. I don’t have much else to tell you.” You: “Okay think that is all that I need to get started. Thank you.” Bob leaves, and you report back to Jim. Jim: “At first glance, this is a RICO violation. For your report I will need the following:” (Answer the following question using fact pattern above and the information found in Chapter 7) 1. There two steps to proving a RICO case, so explain what they are. 2. Fully explain Bob’s actions (including the correct crimes and definitions) , and explain how it all fits into the two steps of RICO. 3. I will need a minimum of three Paragraphs for your report. Also write in complete sentences and DO NOT uses lists.

Answer 1

The two steps of proving a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) case are proof of an enterprise and proof of a pattern of racketeering activity. Enterprise is defined as a legal entity. This entity can be in the form of a corporation or a partnership or any other entity. Secondly there should be a pattern of racketeering activity. For this there must be acts of racketeering activity and the acts must form a pattern.

Bob’s actions involved racketeering as being in charge of financing of his employer’s store he started moving money on a regular basis. In other words he was siphoning off funds from his employer on the pretext of fictitious expenses and payments that never really existed and he ended up pocketing this money himself. Thus he was involved in racketeering as he was earning illegal money and that too on a regular basis.

In Bob’s case the enterprise in concern is his employer’s store and there was a clear pattern to his racketeering activity. This is because for a pattern to exist law requires that at least two different instances of racketeering activity should have occurred in more than a gap of ten years. Bob is also guilty of arson as he willfully set fire to the store which was now owned by him so that he could pocket substantial payment from the insurance company. This was an intentional burning of the store and hence will be regarded as arson. Arson is considered as a racketeering activity.