Sunday, January 07, 2007

XM's Oprah Target Of Extortion Attempt

Oprah Winfrey allegedly target of extortion attempt
The Associated Press, Saturday, January 6, 2007

A man allegedly tried to extort $1.5 million (€1.15 million) from Oprah Winfrey by threatening to release taped telephone conversations that he claimed would hurt her reputation, according to a federal complaint.
Keifer Bonvillain, 36, allegedly demanded that a Winfrey representative pay him the money in exchange for 12 hours of recorded telephone conversations he'd had with a Winfrey employee he met two years earlier at a party, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
Bonvillain targeted "Individual A," who was "a public figure and the owner of a Chicago-based company," the complaint said. The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Saturday that Individual A was Winfrey...read more: here