the.com/racketeering
a crime so theatrical it required inventing the word 'racket' to describe the noise.
means The act of running an organized illegal business — extortion, fraud, bribery, or other coercive schemes — typically as part of a criminal enterprise.
from Built on 'racket,' which long meant a loud clamor or disturbance (probably imitative of the noise itself, echoing in English since the 1500s). By the 1800s 'racket' had drifted to mean a dishonest scheme or fraudulent business — perhaps from the idea of a noisy disturbance used as cover, or simply the 'commotion' of a swindle. 'Racketeer' and 'racketeering' emerged in early 20th-century American English, crystallizing in the Prohibition era to name the organized-crime shakedowns of the day.
- origin
- Term coined in 1920s Chicago crime panic
- law named after it
- RICO Act, 1970, dismantles whole organizations
- surprise target
- FIFA officials charged under RICO in 2015
- reach
- Covers extortion, fraud, bribery, money laundering, more
- penalty
- Up to 20 years per single count
meyer lansky's gambling empire — organized crime boss ran illegal gambling operations across miami, las vegas, and the caribbean from 1930s-1980s
genovese family loansharking — new york mafia family charged under rico act for systematic loansharking and extortion, convicted 1989