Extortion

Extortion occurs when a person attempts to obtain a financial or other benefit by threatening to commit violence or reveal sensitive, private or false information about someone that could harm this person. This threat must be of a nature that is able to cause some kind of fear in the victim. This fear can be for example a fear of violence, economic loss or social stigma. This fear could pertain to actions with regards to the person itself, but also towards family or friends of the victim. Actions can only be considered as extortion when they are committed with the deliberate purpose to obtain an unjust benefit. The offender must thus have the intention to cause fear in order to realise an undue benefit. Whether the offender actually achieves this is irrelevant. Actions whereby the benefit is not unjustified cannot be considered actions of extortion. There is for example no extortion if one threatens to report a thief to the police unless these stolen goods are returned.