Interestingly, RICO can encompass acts of securiti

Interestingly, RICO can encompass acts of securities fraud as acts of racketering. A lawyer I spoke with happened to mention RICO within the context of securities fraud perpetrated by a loosely or tightly knit group of criminal collaborators. It was news to me that securities fraud was listed under the RICO statute. RICO does require a predicate of  "at least two acts of racketeering activity." However, that might not be so difficult to show. There are criminal penalties for the perpetrator and civil court recourse for damaged parties, up to treble the damages..

The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually commit the crime personally.

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.