Pharma Execs Arrested Over Fentanyl Rackateering

Re:Pharma Execs Arrested Over Fentanyl Rackateering by wallace_f on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @04:25AM (#13165611)

Use of the word racketeering here is interesting. Wikipedia's definition is:

> A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve a problem, such as for a problem that does not actually exist, that will not be put into effect, or that would not otherwise exist if the racket did not exist

But it sounds like they were engaging in illegal bribing, not racketeering. I don't know, am I misunderstanding?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Pharma Execs Arrested Over Fentanyl Rackateering by azernik on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @05:06AM (#13165761)

Racketeering here refers to a specific law - specifically, RICO (Racketeering Influenced Criminal Organization). This was built to deal with mafia groups in the 70s, but explicitly written to include white-collar crime. RICO basically created a special class of crime to cover the commission of multiple less serious crimes in pursuit of an "enterprise", i.e. an organized criminal conspiracy.

So when the Justice Department says racketeering, and then mentions RICO farther down in the press release, it means that these are basically conspiracy charges that include a few different items on a list of thirty-something crimes that RICO includes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Pharma Execs Arrested Over Fentanyl Rackateering by wallace_f on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @04:52PM (#13171452)

Thanks for the info

[ Parent | on HN ]