Unit 1. Organised crime

Практические занятия – 10 часов.

Внеаудиторная самостоятельная работа – 10 часов.

Аудиторная работа

Key vocabulary

endeavor – область деятельности

gambling - 1) азартная игра; 2) гэмблинг ( эксплуатация азартных игр )

trafficking – незаконный ввоз, торговля запрещенным товаром

bookmaking – игра на деньги

loan-sharking - «акулий промысел», гангстерское ростовщичество

protection - защита, охрана; деньги, выплачиваемые гангстерами должностному лицу за покровительство им; покровительство гангстерам со стороны представителей власти; выкуп гангстерам, выплачиваемый предпринимателем, профсоюзом за «защиту»

racketeering - рэкетирство, рэкетирская деятельность, рэкет

skimming – вложение скрытых доходов в легальный бизнес

insider trading – торговля внутренней информацией, операции с ценными бумаги на основе конфиденциальной информации

bid rigging – мошенничество при торгах

no-show job/no-work job – оплачиваемая должность, которая не требует какой-либо работы

money laundering – отмывание денег

bullying – «дедовщина», подавление

clamping - ограничение

ransom - выкуп; выкупная сумма

turmoil - беспорядки, массовые волнения

Text 1. Read the text and think of the main idea of each paragraph. Give titles to the paragraphs.

Organized Crime

1________________________

Organized crime is one of the largest business enterprises in the advanced industrial societies. While the United States has long been considered the center of organized crime, such activities also flourish in Canada, Japan, Great Britain, and other places with developed economies. Mafia is a term used to describe a number of criminal organizations around the world. The first organization was the Sicilian Mafia based in Italy, known to its members as Cosa Nostra. Other powerful organizations described as mafias include the Russian Mafia, the Chinese Triads, the Irish Mob, the Japanese Yakuza, the Neapolitan Camorra, and many others. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are politically motivated. An organized gang or criminal set can also be referred to as a mob.

2_____________________________

Such profitable endeavors as gambling, drug trafficking, bookmaking, loansharking, labor racketeering, etc. have long been controlled by various organized crime factions. Organized crime groups also do a range of activities, such as skimming casinos, insider trading, setting up monopolies in industries such as garbage collecting, construction and cement pouring, bid rigging, getting "no-show" and "no-work" jobs, money laundering, political corruption, bullying and ideological clamping. In addition to that segment of the population made up of individual criminals acting independently or in small groups, there exists a so-called underworld of criminal organizations engaged in offenses such as cargo theft, fraud, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and the demanding of “protection” payments. The newest growth sectors for organized crime are identity theft and online extortion.

3__________________________

Organized crime most typically flourishes when a central government and civil society is disorganized, weak, absent or untrusted. This may occur in a society facing periods of political, economic or social turmoil or transition, such as a change of government or a period of rapid economic development, particularly if the society lacks strong and established institutions and the rule of law. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe that saw the downfall of the Communist Bloc and establishment of new systems of democracy and free market capitalism in the region created a breeding ground for organized criminal organizations. Most of the countries fell upon economic turmoil with their markets being flooded with western products that had previously been barred by the communists regimes at exceptionally high prices and a lack of interest in importing from Eastern Europe. This led to many turning to illegitimate means of making a profit, most of the time these efforts were backed by former secret service and police force who were now out of the job.

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions, give your reasons.

1. How does organized crime affect public health and safety? (think of counterfeit goods, pharmaceuticals, electrical products, etc.)

2. How does organized crime impact the average citizen financially? (think of car theft, identity theft, insurance fraud, etc.)

3. Do you agree with the opinion that conquerors, such as Mongols or Vandals, have much in common with organized crime groups?

4. In your opinion, which are the most serious international crossborder crimes at present?

Ex. 2. Match the crime and its definition:

1. insider trading 2. trafficking 3. identity theft 4. Racketeering 5. loan-sharking

6. bullying 7. money laundering 8. gambling

a) when people risk money or possessions on the result of something which is not certain, such as a card game or a horse race

b) the practice of putting pressure on someone in order to make them do what you want

c) any crime in which someone steals personal information about and belonging to another person, for example their bank account number or the number of their driving

license, and uses this information to deceive other people and get money or goods

d) when someone lends money at very high rates of interest and often use threats or violence to get the money back

e) the buying and selling of illegal goods, especially drugs:

f) the crime of using secret information that you have about a company or knowledge of a situation to buy or sell shares at a profit

g) when someone earns money through crime and illegal activities

h) when money that has been obtained illegally is put into legal businesses or bank accounts in different countries, so that it is difficult for people to discover where it came from