extortion

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Feds: Blago Extorted Hospital Honcho

Guv planned to seek campaign cash in return for state funding

(Newser) - The Rod Blagojevich scandal extends beyond politics to medicine, the Chicago Tribune reports. He threatened to withhold $8 million in state funding for a pediatric health initiative unless the head of Children’s Memorial Hospital gave his campaign $50,000, according to the federal criminal complaint against the Illinois governor....

Oprah Sued for $180M in Extortion Case

Louisiana man claims false charges and FBI arrest damaged his reputation

(Newser) - A Louisiana man is suing Oprah Winfrey and the FBI for $180 million for falsely accusing him of extortion and damaging his reputation, Access Hollywood reports. Keifer Bonvillian was arrested in 2006 after recording conversations with—and accepting money from—a Harpo Productions employee. The extortion charges were dismissed after...

Man Tried to Blackmail Giants Coach: Feds

Suspect targeted Coughlin in alleged bid to frame ex-co-workers

(Newser) - A Philadelphia man faces federal extortion charges and 2 years in prison after confessing to attempting to blackmail Giants coach Tom Coughlin, the New York Daily News reports. The coach received letters purportedly from two women 2 weeks ago and notified the NFL, which passed along the evidence to the...

What a Drag! Ronaldo In Transvestite Flap

Call 'girls' take Brazilian soccer star by surprise

(Newser) - Soccer virtuoso Ronaldo was questioned by police in Rio de Janeiro yesterday after an altercation in a motel with transvestite prostitutes, Reuters reports. The star of AC Milan and the Brazilian national team took three call girls to the motel, only to discover that they were men in drag, according...

Ex-Nanny Sues Lowe for Harassment

Ex-worker strikes back after Lowe claims extortion

(Newser) - Just a week after actor Rob Lowe sued his former nanny over an alleged extortion attempt, she slapped back with a sex harassment lawsuit against him, reports E! Online. The 24-year-old claims in court papers that she was sexually assaulted, harassed, and beaten by Lowe and his wife during the...

Lowe Suing Ex-Nanny Over Extortion Plot

Says ex-employee demanded $1.5M to keep quiet about actor hitting on her

(Newser) - Rob Lowe took to the web and courts yesterday to defend himself against a $1.5 million blackmail scheme by a former employee who claims he repeatedly hit on her. The actor, whose career was derailed by a sex scandal in the '80s, went public on the ex-nanny's charge and...

Renzi Should Step Down, House GOP Leader Says

GOP doesn't want to weather another scandal

(Newser) - House Minority Leader John Boehner is pressuring Rep. Rick Renzi, indicted yesterday for extortion, money laundering, and fraud in connection with an Arizona land deal, to step down, urging his fellow Republican "to seriously consider whether he can continue to effectively represent his constituents under these circumstances.” Boehner...

Arizona Rep. Renzi Indicted Over Land Deal

Charged with 35 counts of conspiracy, extortion, money laundering

(Newser) - Rep. Rick Renzi has racked up a 35-count indictment, including federal charges of conspiracy, extortion, wire fraud, insurance fraud, and money laundering, CNN reports. The Arizona Republican and two ex-business partners worked to sell land that buyers could then trade for federally-owned property, the AP reports; the sale brought one...

Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid
Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid
Jan 20, 2008 8:38 AM CST

Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid

In cities outside the US, hackers shut down grid for blackmail

(Newser) - Foreign extortionists have managed to hack into US power grids and shut them down, PC World reports, citing a CIA analyst speaking at a security conference this week. "In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these...

Missing Dog Case Takes Cruel Turn
Missing Dog Case Takes Cruel Turn
Jan 5, 2008 3:14 PM CST

Missing Dog Case Takes Cruel Turn

Teen charged after owner receives harrowing calls

(Newser) - Philly police have arrested a 15-year-old in the case of a gentle brown dog whose disappearance led to a cruel chain of events for her owner. The youth and others called up the distraught owner after Edna's disappearance, demanded a ransom, then made a dog yelp in pain as he...

Bomb Threats Hit Discount Stores, Supermarkets

Caller threatens to blow up stores unless money wired into account

(Newser) - Federal agents are looking into bomb threats phoned in to Wal-Marts and supermarkets across the country, the AP reports. An unidentified caller, believed to be in Portugal, demands that employees wire money overseas or he'll set off a bomb. A Maine supermarket was the target yesterday, bringing the total to...

Garden State Beauty Queen Claims Blackmail

Miss New Jersey says private photos came from Facebook page

(Newser) - The reigning Miss New Jersey says an uncongenial blackmailer is trying to muscle her out of her tiara with untoward photos, the Star Ledger reports. Amy Polumbo, 22, received as many as 12 pictures in the mail last month with a letter demanding she surrender her title to the runner-up....

Police Arrest Two in Case of Missing Maddy

Held in alleged plot to claim reward money

(Newser) - Police in Spain have arrested two people in an extortion plot connected to the disappearance of British tot Madeleine McCann. The pair, one of them an Italian man wanted in France for child abuse, were arrested near Gibraltar after trying to blackmail the McCann family, the Guardian reports. The four-year-old...

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