6.76
66
The American solution to these problems was the enactment of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organisations [RICO] Statute in 1970. It contains provisions dealing with varying organised crime activities. In addition to prescribing those activities, and allowing the forfeiture of assets where they were derived from the profits of those activities, it authorised a variety of civil sanctions that have proved useful in cases where proof of criminal activity is difficult to obtain.
using
6.77 The RICO Statute prohibits a person from engaging in any of the following activities income received from a pattern of racketeering activity to acquire an interest in an enterprise; acquiring or maintaining an interest in an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; conducting or participating in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; conspiring to commit any of the above offences. [The RICO Statute, being a Federal
Statute, is also concerned with the effect that these activities have on US interstate or foreign commerce. This is merely a device to give the Federal authorities jurisdiction. Plainly such a problem does not exist in Hong Kong.]
6.78
It has been held by the American courts that the essential elements of the offence are : "(1) that the defendant (2) through the commission of two or more acts (3) constituting a 'pattern' (4) of racketeering activity (5) directly or indirectly invests in, maintains an interest in, or participates in (6) an enterprise.
6.79
The prosecution, in each of the variations. of the offences created by the RICO Statute, must prove that through the commission of two or more acts, persons engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity. The acts prescribed by the statute are, in essence, serious crimes. They do not have to be similar. What is required is that the prosecutor shows that they are linked so as to constitute a pattern of racketeering activity. Thus, for example, the prosecutor could present evidence linking the book-making activities of the accused with their related loan-sharking, blackmail and wounding activities.
6.80
The RICO Statute also requires proof that the pattern of racketeering activity involved investment in, maintaining an interest in or participating in an enterprise. The American courts have held that "enterprise" in this context could mean both legal and illegal enterprises.