Predicate crime

In the criminal law of the United States, a predicate crime or offense is a crime which is a component of a larger crime. The larger crime may be racketeering, money laundering, financing of terrorism, etc.[1]

For example, to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), a person must "engage in a pattern of racketeering activity", and in particular, must have committed at least two predicate crimes within 10 years.[2] These include bribery, blackmail, extortion, fraud, theft, money laundering, counterfeiting, and illegal gambling.[3]

Crimes are predicate to a larger crime if they have a similar purpose to the larger crime. For example, using false identification is itself a crime; it may be a predicate offense to larceny or fraud if it is used to withdraw money from a bank account.

Predicate crimes can be charged separately or together with the larger crime.[4]

  1. ^ "Predicate Offence". AML-CFT. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  2. ^ "Criminal Law Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Law :: Justia". www.justia.com. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  3. ^ "Redirecting..." heinonline.org. Retrieved 2019-05-08. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. ^ Glossary, Legal (2013-10-13). "Predicate crime". Legal-Glossary. Retrieved 2019-05-08.