U.S. v. BORNSCHEUER , 2009 WL 814587 (11th Cir. March 31, 2009)
The defendants were charged with extortion in violation of the Hobbs Act. The defendants were German businessmen who purchased a Florida corporation owned by another German citizen, living in Florida at the time of the events that gave rise to this prosecution. One of the defendants borrowed part of the purchase price from German investors and he financed the balance by giving the seller a mortgage on his property together with a note. Eventually, the defendants demanded that the seller/victim rescind the purchase and cancel the purchase mortgage, claiming the defendants’ financial backers were demanding payment. To persuade the seller to comply, they described their investors as dangerous underworld figures who would do anything to recover their money and warned the seller he better comply or his family would be at risk. The defendants’ appeal involved his challenge to the district court’s refusal to delete from the jury instruction on the Hobbs Act elements the words “fear of economic loss.” The appellate court rejected this argument as it found there was evidence that the victim feared the possibility of suffering economic loss by the defendants’ actions.
