Cindy Crawford, Husband Targeted in Extortion Plot
Cindy Crawford and her entrepreneur husband Rande Gerber were the victims of a $100,000 extortion scheme involving a photograph of their 7-year-old daughter purportedly taken by the couple’s former nanny, according to court papers filed Thursday by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office.
The photo shows the child “in revealing clothing, bound to a chair and gagged,” say the documents filed in U.S. District Court, reports Los Angeles TV station KTLA.
According to an affidavit in the case, the child informed the Gerbers that the nanny took the photo as part of a “cops and robbers” game. Annett Wolf, a rep for the former supermodel, issued a statement saying the photo was taken without Crawford’s knowledge.
An acquaintance of the nanny reportedly threatened to sell the photo. He has been identified as Edis Kayalar, 26, a recent deportee to Germany now believed to be in Stuttgart, according to officials. Authorities say that even after his deportation Kayalar continued to demand $100,000 – or he would release the photo to the media.
He has been charged with one count of extortion. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of up to two years. The nanny, who has not been named, has not been charged.
Wolf’s statement also said, “Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter.”
Crawford, 43, and Gerber, 47, have been married since 1998. Besides their daughter, who is now 8, they also have a son, 10.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!