Extortion involves moral turpitude.[106] 

 

United States ex rel. Dentico v. Esperdy, 280 F.2d 71 (2d Cir. 1960) (conspiracy to extort money);

Ex Parte Tozier, 2 F.2d 268 (D.Me. 1924), aff’d, Howes v. Tozer, 3 F.2d 849 (1st Cir. 1925);

Matter of P, 5 I. & N. Dec. 444 (BIA 1953) (conviction of conspiracy to unlawfully and knowingly transport a person in interstate commerce who had been held for ransom is a crime involving moral turpitude since it partakes of the immoralities inherent in the characteristics of true kidnapping);

Matter of GT, 4 I. & N. Dec. 446 (BIA 1951) (sending threatening letters with intention to extort);

Matter of F, 3 I. & N. Dec. 361 (BIA 1948) (conviction of demanding property with menaces, in violation of Canada Criminal Code § 451 (1936), is an offense which involves moral turpitude).

Cf. Matter of M, 2 I. & N. Dec. 196 (BIA 1944);

Matter of D, 1 I. & N. Dec. 190 (BIA 1942).

 

Loan sharking.

 

Matter of B, 6 I. & N. Dec. 98 (BIA 1954) (where indictment described obtaining pecuniary profits through usury, in violation of law, by means of intimidation, threats of bodily harm, and extortion, BIA held that the sections of the Banking Law of New York under which the defendant had been convicted contained no requirement that criminal intent be established and was therefore not a CMT, but only a licensing and regulatory enactment with a complete absence of any element which could be considered to denote baseness, vileness, or depravity, and that conviction was possible under such sections because of mere negligence in failing to secure a license to carry on a small business, or “inadvertently receiving” more than the permitted interest on a loan).

 

Blackmail involves moral turpitude.[107] 

 

Lehmann v. Carson, 353 U.S. 685 (1957);

Dentico v. Esperdy, 280 F.2d 71 (2d Cir. 1960) (conspiracy to extort);

Matter of C, 5 I. & N. Dec. 630 (BIA 1954) (since moral depravity inheres in the crime of blackmail, that crime involves moral turpitude).

[106] 9 U.S. Dep’t of State, Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) § 40.21(a) N.2.3-1(b)(5).

[107] 9 U.S. Dep’t of State, Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) § 40.21(a) N.2.3-1(b)(2).

Ninth Circuit

AGGRAVATED FELONY - CRIME OF VIOLENCE - EXTORTION - CRIME OF MORAL TURPITUDE - EXTORTION
United States v. Becerril-Lopez, 528 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir. Jun. 12, 2008) (generic definition of extortion: "obtaining something of value from another with is consent induced by the wrongful use of force, fear, or threats."; extortion includes threats to property and non-immediate danger), citing Scheidler v. Natl Org. for Women, Inc., 537 U.S. 393, 409 (2003).