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Extortion is commonly known as blackmail and can come in many different forms. It is a crime that involves using threats, accusations, menaces, or violence to coerce someone into surrendering something against their will. It can include money, sexual favours, promises, or tangible property. Common extortion scams in Canada include hitman claims, hacking, ransomware, and fake employee scams. Extortion is treated as an indictable offence under s.346 (1) of the Criminal Code and carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. To convict someone of extortion, the prosecutor must prove the use of threats or violence to coerce the victim without reasonable justification.
Table of Contents:
What is Extortion?
The term "blackmail" is widely known although there is no blackmail charge in Canada's Criminal Code. Offences relating to extortion are found in Part IX of the Code relating to Offences Against Rights of Property. Extortion can be carried out in various ways. Many people will be familiar with criminal organizations threatening violence for payoffs, although the threat of violence is not always used or necessary for a conviction. People can receive demands for cash in exchange for compromising information or photographs.
Extortion is not always about money. People have attempted to extort sexual favours, promises or tangible property. The level of the threats used is not as important as the intention of coercing the victim to surrender something against their will. According to Statistics Canada (Police-reported crime statistics, 2018), incidents of extortion increased 170 per cent from 2012 to 2018 in this country.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, common ongoing extortion scams include:
- those claiming to be a hitman;
- scammers who send an email to a business threatening to attack or bring down the business's website and internet service;
- those who to have hacked a person's computer and recorded them performing an explicit act;
- someone claiming to be an employee of a utility company, seeking immediate payment for an unpaid bill;
- a scammer who claims to be with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada who tells the intended victim that they failed to complete or register certain immigration documents;
- a person who uses ransomware (malicious software) to infect a computer;
- scammers who create fake profiles on social media and dating websites to try convince victims to send them money;
- a person who says they are an employee of either the Canada Revenue Agency or Service Canada, claiming the victim owes back taxes, has a compromised SIN number or has committed a financial crime.
Under s.346 (2), a threat to institute civil proceedings is not considered extortion.
What is Needed to Convict
To win a conviction for extortion the Crown prosecutorLawyers who prosecutes charges on behalf of the Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you used “threats, accusations, menaces, or violence” to coerce or attempt to coerce the victim to do anything or cause anything to be done. It also must be shown you did not have any reasonable justification or excuse for inducing or attempted to induce the victim.
Your lawyer may argue that the threat you made was justified. You may also be able to establish reasons why your arrest was not lawful under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Treated as an Indictable Offence
If you have been charged with extortion, the Crown will proceed as an indictable offenceIndictable offences are more-serious criminal offences and you can be imprisoned if convicted.
Penalty for Extortion
Extortion is a serious crime and carries a maximum penalty of life in prison under the Criminal Code. If you used a firearmBarrelled weapon from which a projectile can be discharged or imitation firearm and the extortion was for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a criminal organization you face a minimum five-year prison term and a minimum seven-year term for any subsequent offences. If you used a firearm or imitation firearm in all other cases you face a minimum of four years in prison.
Because of the nature of the crime, courts may be more inclined to hand down stiff sentences. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), the court may increase a sentence to account for aggravating and mitigating factors relating to the offender or the offence.
The DoJ states that “the main purpose of sentencing is to contribute to respect for the law and to a just, peaceful, and safe society by imposing fit sentences” that have one or more of the following objectives:
- denounce the unlawful conduct and harm to the victim;
- deter the offender and others from committing such crimes;
- separate offenders from society when necessary;
- assist in rehabilitating the offender;
- provide reparations for harm done to the victim and the community; and
- promote a sense of responsibility in offenders and acknowledgment of the harm done.
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Glossary of Legal Terms
Crown prosecutor
Lawyers who act for the federal, provincial and territorial governments and prosecute people accused of crimes on behalf of the Crown.
Firearm
Barrelled weapon from which a projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing bodily injury or death to a person.
Indictable offence
Indictable offences are the most serious offences under the Criminal Code and they come with more serious punishments, up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Reasonable doubt
The Supreme Court of Canada has said that reasonable doubt “falls much closer to absolute certainty than to proof on a balance of probabilities” and “that something less than absolute certainty is required, and that something more than probable guilt is required."
