MBE Rules · Criminal Law
Extortion (blackmail)
The rule
Common law: extortion is the unlawful taking of money or property by a public official under color of office. Modern (blackmail): obtaining property from another by threat of future harm — physical, economic, or reputational (e.g., exposing a secret). Unlike robbery, the threat need not be of immediate harm and the property need not be taken from the person or presence of the victim.
In plain English
Extortion criminalizes coercive threats aimed at future harm to extract property. It fills the gap left by robbery, which requires immediate force or fear.
The trap
Confusing extortion with robbery. Robbery = force or threat of immediate harm at the scene; extortion = threat of future harm, often at a distance.
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