Billionaire investor Wesley Edens targeted in alleged sex blackmail scheme involving threats and fake videos
The billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Bucks was allegedly blackmailed by a Chinese-born divorcée after he had a relationship with her — and she demanded half his fortune and hid compromising material in a box of sanitary pads, according to federal prosecutors.
Wesley Edens, 64, who is also the co-founder of Wall Street investment firm Fortress Investment Group and owner of the Aston Villa soccer team, had sex with Changli “Sophia” Luo, 46, after she reached out to him via LinkedIn messages in 2022, according to federal prosecutors and the Wall Street Journal reported.
After Edens, who was newly divorced, spent a night with Luo at her Manhattan apartment, she sent him a desperate love letter — and then became increasingly unstable when he did not respond, prosecutors said.
“I never told you I love you, and tonight I want to tell you that, I have been restraining my feelings for you, as I do love you from the bottom of my heart!” Luo wrote to Edens.
Luo then carried out a months-long blackmail campaign against Edens — during which she demanded $1.2 billion, half of Edens’ estimated $2.5 billion fortune, according to the criminal complaint.
Luo was indicted last year over the alleged extortion, which involved threatening to release videos and photos of the pair having sex.
Last May, FBI agents searched Luo’s apartment and found a phone hidden in a laundry basket and another in a box of sanitary pads, according to prosecutors.
One phone had several pornographic videos and images with Edens’s face edited onto another man’s body, according to prosecutors.
Luo was also arrested on June 14 at JFK International Airport as she attempted to board a flight to China, prosecutors said.
Edens was not named by federal prosecutors, but the WSJ pieced the details together linking the case to the billionaire — and a representative confirmed he was the target of Luo’s campaign.
According to prosecutors, Luo tried to hurt Edens by reaching out to his family and his ex-wife and threatened to contact his investors.
Months later, she wrote to Edens alleging that he had had sex with her when she was mentally incapacitated.
Luo told Edens her “home has cameras,” and said that everything Edens “did was caught on camera,” threatening to go to the media unless he apologized, according to prosecutors.
“I am sure your family and business partners will learn about you and your misdeeds from these interviews and will provide exposure that will taint your record forever,” she wrote.
Edens denied Luo’s allegations but agreed to the extortion, hoping to prevent harassment of his family and public embarrassment, according to prosecutors.
In an initial settlement, Edens agreed to pay Luo $6.5 million, including $1 million upfront, following a Zoom mediation overseen by a former judge.
Following the settlement, Luo found out she had HPV, a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to cancer, according to her lawyers.
She blamed Edens and sought to renegotiate the deal, asking for as much as $1.215 billion.
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