Vivek Shah, 25, arrested after allegedly threatening to kill family members of Miramax co-founder and four other individuals
An actor has been indicted for attempting to extort millions of dollars from the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Vivek Shah, 25, who has had minor roles in films and television shows including Bones and Outsourced, was arrested last week after allegedly threatening to kill members of Weinstein's family unless he wired money to an offshore bank account.
Weinstein was one of five people to receive a written threat from Shah in the past two months, according to an affidavit signed by postal inspector Joshua Mehall. Shah demanded that each target wire millions of dollars to an offshore bank account or he would kill family members who were listed in the letter.
According to the affidavit, Shah's other targets include an Illinois resident who co-founded an internet company, a Floridian who founded an oil and gas company and a Texan who is the child of the late founder of another oil and gas company.
The affidavit also lists "a Conneticut resident and co-founder of a film studio", who is presumed to be Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax films. Weinstein hosted a $35,800-per-person fundraising dinner for Barack Obama at his Westport, Connecticut home earlier this month.
The only named party in the affidavit is coal magnate Christopher Cline, from whom Shah attempted to extort $13m. Shah is being held in West Virginia, where Cline lives.
After federal authorities learned of the threat to Cline, Shah's online purchases and mailbox rentals were tracked and his transactions were captured from store surveillance video.
Shah, a West Hollywood resident, was arrested last week at his family's Schaumburg, Illinois home and indicted Wednesday. Records show that Shah had scheduled training at a Los Angeles-area gun range after his planned return to California.
He will now face a grand jury in Charleston, on four counts of interfering with interstate commerce and for using interstate commerce to threaten extortion.
Last week, Weinstein was granted a three-year restraining order against a man who allegedly threatened to shoot him. The man is also accused of threatening the singer Sheryl Crow, who also obtained a restraining order against him.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/us-news-blog/2012/aug/23/harvey-weinstein-actor-extortion-plot
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