Organized crime is one of the forms of offenses that groups of people conduct. It involves wrongdoings as bribery, theft, violence, kidnapping, fraud, and murder. Organized crime groups have their hierarchy, and it is essential to have a leader within the group. This leader acts as a headliner and guides the group on crimes they must jointly commit (Lampe, 2016). People who obey the leader should report all the organization’s actions.
Moreover, ethnicity is an essential factor that plays a significant role in shaping organized crime groups. People of similar nationality and race are more likely to trust someone from the same ethnicity and mistrust others (Lampe, 2016). It is also essential to denote differences in organized crimes. Transnational organized crime is another type of offense where illegal groups act irrespective of geographical location. Compared to domestic crime organizations, transnational crimes are not limited to the boundaries of a single country (Lampe, 2016). In addition, the character of crimes also differs; transnational offenders are interested in economic gains and commit crimes connected with monetary benefits. Still, there are leaders and subordinates in international crimes, and it is similar to all organized crime groupings.
Mr. Big’s activity is related to organized crime due to several factors. He has an organized group that includes Mr. Muscle, Mr. Accountant, and Mrs. Mayor, who are aware of illegal actions and facilitate the continuation of offenses. The hierarchy, where Mr. Big is a headliner, is seen in the interaction of this group. Moreover, Mr. Big commits financial machinations and has illegal incomes through robbing governmental money reserves. Therefore, the activity of Mr. Big and his group is offensive and unlawful.
Facts
When union members refuse to make cash payments or pay exorbitant dues, Mr. Muscle or one of his associates pays them a home call. They are complemented and told of the tragedy that would ensue “if anything happened to them.” In the absence of money, arson and violence will erupt. When dissatisfied union members contact law enforcement with information about the crimes, the organization is immediately alerted, and Mr. Muscle’s squad is summoned.
The difficulties, as well as the witnesses, vanish. This action answers the challenges at hand and acts as a deterrence to similar unsatisfied members in the future. Rival sanitation and transportation unions have attempted to force elections on occasion to gain a footing in the representation of various groups of municipal employees. Mysterious “accidents” have often befallen the union leaders of these organizations.
Additionally, Mr. Accountant established a financial investment business to manage the funds embezzled from the union Pension and Welfare fund. Mr. Accountant generates fictitious account statements in the corporation’s name, falsely indicating that the funds used to fuel criminal activities are actively invested in stocks and bonds. Mrs. Mayor is responsible for establishing local labor and union rules that are complicated and difficult to comply with from a rival union’s standpoint.
Law
The intergovernmental body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), was founded at the G7 summit in Paris in 1989 to rising public concern about illegal money laundering. Not international law, but a set of generally accepted global principles based in part on United Nations (UN) agreements and Security Council decisions, the Recommendations are RICO, enacted in 1970, is a federal law designed to combat organized crime in the United States. Criminal and civil responsibility for racketeering acts performed as part of a continuing criminal enterprise is established under this legislation. Illegal gambling, bribery, abduction, murder, money laundering, counterfeiting, embezzlement, drug trafficking, and slavery are all examples of this kind of activity.
Legally Prohibited Activities
It is illegal to use or invest any part of proceeds from the collection of an unlawful debt in which people participating as principals was involved under section 2 of title 18 of the United States Code in the acquisition of any interest in, or the establishment or operation of any business by anyone who has derived income from a pattern or practice of racketeering activity or such activity. As a result of this prohibition, it is illegal for anybody to acquire and keep control of any business that engages or impacts interstate or international trade. Any employee or associate of a company involved in, or whose actions impact, interstate or international trade is prohibited from engaging in racketeering activity or criminal debt collection in any way. Subsections and of this section’s paragraph prohibit anybody from conspiring to violate any of these requirements.
Charges against Individuals: Mr. Big
He violates Section 659, which is related to the theft from an international shipment. Moreover, his activity violates Section 1344 concerning fraud with financial organizations. He also misinterprets Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which concerns monetary corruption and criminal economic activities. Accordingly, Mr. Big gathered a criminal organized group motivated by financial benefits and violated Section 848 concerning setting up a group for illegal purposes.
Mrs. Mayor’s
He was found guilty of racketeering by the judge’s order. In the United States, a racketeering offense is defined as any act or threat involving theft, corruption, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined by Sections 102 and 103 of the Controlled Substances Act), which is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year under State law. Sections 201 (bribery) and 224 (extortion) may be implicated in any action or threat.
“Mr. Muscle”
Counterfeiting and theft from interstate shipments are violations of Sections 471, 472, and 473 (counterfeiting), as well as Section 659 (theft from an interstate shipment). Among the many sections of the bill that deal with extortionate credit transactions, extortionate credit transactions, identity theft, fraud and related activity involving identification documents, and fraud and related activity involving access devices, are sections 664, 891894, 1028, 1029, 1084, 1341, and 1343 (obscene matter).
Mr. Accountant
He violated sections 1510 (obstruction of criminal investigations), 1511 (obstruction of state or local law enforcement), 1512 (tampering with a witness, victim, or informant), 1513 (retaliation against a witness, victim, or informant), 1542 (false statement in passport application and use), and 1543 (forgery) for his involvement in obstruction of justice (peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons). Interference with commerce, theft, or extortion, racketeering, interstate transportation of wagering paraphernalia, illicit welfare fund payments, and participating in monetary transactions in derelict property are all covered under sections 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1957 (embezzlement from union funds).
Investigative Strategy
Examine Social History
- Conduct interviews with family members and get records release forms:
- Mrs. Mayor,
- Mayors (sister), identical to the mother.
- Mayors (father).
- Mr. muscular Client, Jr. (brother), identical to father.
- Mr. Accountant’s close associates.
- Acquire bank and corporate records:
- Bank account status.
- Financial records of the business.
- Clientele of the business.
- Identify and interview union members:
- Inquire about union membership plans.
- Conduct interviews with union members.
- Conduct interviews with casual union employees.
- Obtain records of prior court lawsuits brought against the union:
- Obtain court records about union cases.
- Conduct interviews with members who have previously filed lawsuits.
- Obtain all available tax and financial information for the town
- Interview any town employees.
- Obtain all Mr. Muscle’s judicial records
- Investigate union money laundering, drug, and human trafficking allegations.
- Create a preliminary life chronology and social history for each suspect.
- Investigate social media accounts.
Conducting interviews might facilitate investigation of the case due to a variety of information from different interviewed members. However, it is not excluded that family members of convicted persons will tell a lie to confuse the police and mistreat existing facts intentionally. The abovementioned methods will help to understand which money operations were made to trace the financial flow. However, members of the crime group might cover their money transactions and use cash to guise a significant part of the money.
Investigate and Prosecute Alleged Crime
- Review of all past court records, recover papers, and conduct interviews with former attorneys:
- Obtain copies of the original case files from previous defense investigators/experts.
- Conduct a review of any town, court cases, and media for information on the following:
- Mrs. Mayor.
- Accountant.
- Collect all newspaper reports on witnesses and crimes; do a selective media search for pertinent information about state agencies/witnesses:
- Confederation.
- Anytown.
- Mrs. Mayor,
- Money laundering and trafficking in narcotics.
- Searches of the following individuals in federal and state courts:
- Mrs. Mayor,
- Accountant, Mr.
- Mr. Muscle (defense witness).
- Any manager of a town’s wire services (state witness).
- Cashiers in Anytown (eyewitness).
- Identify, interview, and investigate potential witnesses to crimes:
- Any cashier who survives a town wire (eyewitness).
- Investigate the events surrounding Mayors Witnesses report a missing person:
- Obtain police records.
- Appoint lawyers to handle concerns.
- Conduct investigations into court infractions:
- Gather documents.
- Conduct interviews with lawyers engaged.
- Interrogate witnesses.
- Interview with the court caseworker/probation officer.
- Determine who the other suspects were and why:
- Police records.
- Identify the police officers involved in the investigation:
- Complaints made by union members in court 2. Complaints filed by witnesses.
- Prepare and submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents held by the federal government:
- Mrs. Mayor (as a possible suspect).
- Mr. Muscle (suspect).
- Accountant, Mr. (Suspect).
- Are there any others?
- Conduct investigations and prosecute capital charges in any town:
- How many (and with what evidence) have been tried?
In gathering information, all approaches are hoped to bring results jointly. Thorough research involving police members should facilitate the investigation.
Suggestions and Evidence
In any case, ancillary to or in any civil action brought by the United States under this title, the court may decide whether to open or shut the proceedings to the public, taking into account the rights of affected people.
Requirement for Further Inquiry
A court judge can issue and serve a civil investigative demand on anybody or any business the person suspects may be in possession, custody, or control of documentary materials relevant to an ongoing racketeering investigation if he has reasonable grounds to believe they are.
- There must be sufficient specificity and certainty in each demand to allow such material to be reasonably identified, as well as a return date that provides a reasonable amount of time for its return.
- The nature of the alleged racketeering violation under investigation, as well as the applicable law, must be stated in each such demand.
References
European Commission. (n.d.). Commission Directive 2001/97/EC. EUR-Lex — Access to European Union law. Web.
Lampe, K. (2016). An introduction to the study of organized crime. SAGE Publications.
U.S. Department of Justice (2020). 9-105.000 – Money laundering.