
Ultimately, how a victim proceeds is entirely up to him or her, but educating yourself on the law and retaining an attorney can be – and often is - your best asset no matter the approach you take.Ĭall the New York State criminal defense lawyers and former New York City prosecutors at (212) 312-7129 or contact us online today.

Few 'blackmail' statutes remain on the books, with most statutes prohibiting such behavior as extortion, theft, or criminal coercion. Additionally, should the need arise, the Family Court may provide recourse by way of an Order of Protection. to engage in other criminal conduct with intent to extort money or any unlawful pecuniary advantage. Blackmail generally refers to hush money, and extortion refers to certain forms of public official misconduct and to those making threats of physical harm to person or property. In these situations where privacy is paramount, our attorneys can “wire up” our clients, arrange for controlled calls, have our former NYPD detectives confront a harasser within the four corners of the law, and provide them with our cease and desist memos. Additionally, a blackmailer may attempt to or in fact secure property by instilling in his or her target a fear that if they do not pay, for example, the extorter will accuse them of wrongdoing, expose a secret or fact that will likely subject them to contempt or ridicule regardless of its veracity, or the victimizer will perform an act that serves no benefit to him or her but would hurt the targeted person's personal or business reputation.īecause there may be “facts” that could expose a victim of shame, embarrassment, and a host of collateral issues involving their familial and business relationships, some individuals, such as clients of Saland Law, routinely seek to put an end to Extortion by seizing control of the situation with the assistance and advocacy of counsel. Although broken out into specific subsections, these threats can include causing a physical injury to another person, causing damage to property, or committing a crime. A form of theft, Grand Larceny by Extortion is always a crime.ĭistinct from the similar offense of Coercion, a person commits this crime when he or she scares another into handing over property, usually money, due to some type of threat or because the targeted person is placed under duress. Blackmail/ Demand Property With Menace/ Extortion By Threats What the law says What the police must prove Maximum penalty Which court will hear the matter. A modern example of blackmail would be a jilted ex-lover threatening to release compromising pictures of the other. Rather, blackmail involves one person threatening to release information that is either embarrassing or damaging about another person. In New York, these are two different names for the same offense, although the latter is the legal term used for crimes committed in violation of Penal Law 155.05(2)(e), 155.30(6), and 155.40(2). Again, blackmail is very similar to extortion, but usually it does not involve anything violent.
