The Law-Savvy Extortionist
A few days ago, the local paper was abuzz with news that the Counter Terrorism Department in Peshawar had arrested an extortionist who had spent the last year masquerading as a Peshawar High Court judge & coercing some real PHC judges into giving him money. The CTD stated that they had been tracking the suspect since three months &, now that he was in custody, they were entitled to some collective back-slapping.
I found this case interesting for the following reasons:
Firstly, before I came back to Peshawar, I lived for 20 years in Islamabad & Rawalpindi. Over there, the only position an identity thief bothers to assume is that of a mid-rank Army officer, such as a major or a colonel. Even a couple of conmen who lived on rent in the apartment directly above ours were reportedly quite fond of introducing themselves as Army majors who worked at places such as the National Defence University Islamabad or the Wah Ordnance Factory. This is the first time I have heard of a person who took the uncharted route of posing as a judge.
Secondly, Rawalpindi is a place where the concept of an ordinary citizen double-checking a suspicious party's credentials, especially if the party claims a connection to the Army, is frowned upon. The general message is that if the 30-odd intelligence agencies operating in the city haven't objected, why should you? But most people say that Rawalpindi is different because it is the GHQ city. But I guess this story means that Rawalpindi culture & crime is becoming popular.
But most of all, I found the idea that the CTD was in charge of the investigation particularly intriguing.
What Is The Distinction Between Extortion & Terrorism?
"Extortion" is classified internationally as a "White Collar Crime", while "Terrorism" is generally considered a "Blue Collar Crime". In order to thoroughly analyse the scenario & its economic implications, we must start with a clear definition of these 4 legal terms:
WHITE COLLAR CRIME is a general term for crimes connected with, inter alia, antitrust violations, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, credit card fraud, computer/Internet fraud, counterfeiting, economic espionage, embezzlement, environmental law violations, financial fraud, government fraud, healthcare fraud, insider trading, insurance fraud, kickbacks, mail fraud, money laundering, phone/telemarketing fraud, public fraud, securities fraud, tax evasion & trade secret theft.
EXTORTION is the act of knowingly obtaining by threat, control over the property of another, with intent to deprive him of the property & is commonly practised by organized crime. A threat may include impersonating a government authority figure such as a law enforcement official.
BLUE COLLAR CRIME is an informal term for crimes that involve some form of tangible damage to person or property; examples include arson, assault, drug abuse, gambling, kidnap, murder, prostitution, rape, robbery & smuggling.
TERRORISM is any activity that is dangerous to human life, potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or resources, a violation of the criminal laws of the target nation, intended to intimidate a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation & to compromise the welfare of a civilian population by acts of destruction, assassination, robbery or kidnapping.
"Extortion" is classified internationally as a "White Collar Crime", while "Terrorism" is generally considered a "Blue Collar Crime". In order to thoroughly analyse the scenario & its economic implications, we must start with a clear definition of these 4 legal terms:
WHITE COLLAR CRIME is a general term for crimes connected with, inter alia, antitrust violations, bankruptcy fraud, bribery, credit card fraud, computer/Internet fraud, counterfeiting, economic espionage, embezzlement, environmental law violations, financial fraud, government fraud, healthcare fraud, insider trading, insurance fraud, kickbacks, mail fraud, money laundering, phone/telemarketing fraud, public fraud, securities fraud, tax evasion & trade secret theft.
EXTORTION is the act of knowingly obtaining by threat, control over the property of another, with intent to deprive him of the property & is commonly practised by organized crime. A threat may include impersonating a government authority figure such as a law enforcement official.
BLUE COLLAR CRIME is an informal term for crimes that involve some form of tangible damage to person or property; examples include arson, assault, drug abuse, gambling, kidnap, murder, prostitution, rape, robbery & smuggling.
TERRORISM is any activity that is dangerous to human life, potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or resources, a violation of the criminal laws of the target nation, intended to intimidate a civilian population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation & to compromise the welfare of a civilian population by acts of destruction, assassination, robbery or kidnapping.
CTD Jurisdictional Questions
Now, since all crimes are interconnected, I agree that terrorism is also generally carried out in the name of a large-scale form of extortion. However, the reason that all civilized nations divide criminal investigation into a series of specialities is because each type of crime takes a different skill set. Case in point: a crime born of passion will involve rapid violence, but a crime born of sadism will involve slow torture. The perpetrator of the first crime is likely to be an emotional wreck while the perpetrator of the second is a psychopath. Identifying the guilty party & gathering strong evidence will involve a different approach in each case.
The CTD is expected to catch real terrorists. Whether they actually do or not, that means they are supposed to be trained in blue collar crime. If they stumble across a white collar crime, most people would expect them to hand the case over to another department. But if their jurisdiction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been recently expanded, then the controversial Right To Information law just became a thousand times more important, because there are literally countless cases where people are clueless which department of the Police can help them.
Now, since all crimes are interconnected, I agree that terrorism is also generally carried out in the name of a large-scale form of extortion. However, the reason that all civilized nations divide criminal investigation into a series of specialities is because each type of crime takes a different skill set. Case in point: a crime born of passion will involve rapid violence, but a crime born of sadism will involve slow torture. The perpetrator of the first crime is likely to be an emotional wreck while the perpetrator of the second is a psychopath. Identifying the guilty party & gathering strong evidence will involve a different approach in each case.
The CTD is expected to catch real terrorists. Whether they actually do or not, that means they are supposed to be trained in blue collar crime. If they stumble across a white collar crime, most people would expect them to hand the case over to another department. But if their jurisdiction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been recently expanded, then the controversial Right To Information law just became a thousand times more important, because there are literally countless cases where people are clueless which department of the Police can help them.
A Cautionary Tale
Picture an expensive, respectable neighborhood of multi-storied bungalows. The majority of the residents understand & abide by the unwritten rule that if each home-owner has paid a fortune to own property in this neighborhood, it is each resident's responsibility to protect & preserve the charm & dignity of the neighborhood image.
Then along comes a man of origins so humble that he cannot fathom why anyone would care about a triviality like a respectable image. His world view rubs off on his offspring who commit thefts from the private gardens in the neighborhood while they are juveniles & eventually, one of them is rumored to have become a terrorist while the others spend their days indulging in activities they would rather not disclose.
Having hardly any time to pursue income-generating activities & their savings dwindling rapidly, they start secretly offering rooms in their house to professional criminals who happen to be stalking affluent targets who live in the neighborhood. Children start disappearing in a neighborhood that used to be known as one of the safest in the city. Some come home, others don't. People's health starts deteriorating & the doctors are unable to identify any disease as the cause. They tell their patients unofficially that the best treatment would simply be a change of location...& they are right. Getting out of the neighborhood actually helps a sizeable number of them.
Some of the more knowledgeable or well-connected private citizens try their best to save their homes by bringing the sad state-of-affairs to the attention of the authorities, but are rebuffed with insinuations of insanity or wordy jurisdictional excuses. The Police isn't equipped, the ministers are very busy & the Army is completely engrossed in seeing to the welfare of the former petty criminals it has hired as informants & agents, to investigate what those hand-picked agents might be doing in their spare time (with Army equipment).
So, an air of hopelessness & defeat starts to infect the neighborhood. The chemical stink of narcotics preparation is on the air every now & then. The lanes are dusty & unkempt. Water, electricity, telephone, cellphone, cable & WiFi services are sporadic at best. The street lights flicker as though this is a 1970s Detroit ghetto. The residents, especially the young & middle-aged are becoming thin & miserable. And the question of the century for this neighborhood remains unanswered: who among the thousands of law-enforcement personnel roaming the city is duty-bound to do something besides brush the innocent residents off?
Economic Fallout
Missing children & idiosyncratic illnesses do not encourage commerce. Once-thriving markets wear a deserted look, heritage sites are falling apart before one's eyes & the most fundamental components of an acceptable quality of life are now considered rare miracles. Worst of all, the situation encourages even more convicted felons to descend on the neighborhood.
The tabloids & talk shows spend hours wondering who should be blamed; but the reality is that as long as progress is based on counting lives taken instead of lives saved, nobody in the world could possibly bring about even an iota of improvement to society.
Picture an expensive, respectable neighborhood of multi-storied bungalows. The majority of the residents understand & abide by the unwritten rule that if each home-owner has paid a fortune to own property in this neighborhood, it is each resident's responsibility to protect & preserve the charm & dignity of the neighborhood image.
Then along comes a man of origins so humble that he cannot fathom why anyone would care about a triviality like a respectable image. His world view rubs off on his offspring who commit thefts from the private gardens in the neighborhood while they are juveniles & eventually, one of them is rumored to have become a terrorist while the others spend their days indulging in activities they would rather not disclose.
Having hardly any time to pursue income-generating activities & their savings dwindling rapidly, they start secretly offering rooms in their house to professional criminals who happen to be stalking affluent targets who live in the neighborhood. Children start disappearing in a neighborhood that used to be known as one of the safest in the city. Some come home, others don't. People's health starts deteriorating & the doctors are unable to identify any disease as the cause. They tell their patients unofficially that the best treatment would simply be a change of location...& they are right. Getting out of the neighborhood actually helps a sizeable number of them.
Some of the more knowledgeable or well-connected private citizens try their best to save their homes by bringing the sad state-of-affairs to the attention of the authorities, but are rebuffed with insinuations of insanity or wordy jurisdictional excuses. The Police isn't equipped, the ministers are very busy & the Army is completely engrossed in seeing to the welfare of the former petty criminals it has hired as informants & agents, to investigate what those hand-picked agents might be doing in their spare time (with Army equipment).
So, an air of hopelessness & defeat starts to infect the neighborhood. The chemical stink of narcotics preparation is on the air every now & then. The lanes are dusty & unkempt. Water, electricity, telephone, cellphone, cable & WiFi services are sporadic at best. The street lights flicker as though this is a 1970s Detroit ghetto. The residents, especially the young & middle-aged are becoming thin & miserable. And the question of the century for this neighborhood remains unanswered: who among the thousands of law-enforcement personnel roaming the city is duty-bound to do something besides brush the innocent residents off?
Economic Fallout
Missing children & idiosyncratic illnesses do not encourage commerce. Once-thriving markets wear a deserted look, heritage sites are falling apart before one's eyes & the most fundamental components of an acceptable quality of life are now considered rare miracles. Worst of all, the situation encourages even more convicted felons to descend on the neighborhood.
The tabloids & talk shows spend hours wondering who should be blamed; but the reality is that as long as progress is based on counting lives taken instead of lives saved, nobody in the world could possibly bring about even an iota of improvement to society.
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