Oct. 12 (UPI) — AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron on Thursday identified himself as the victim of a blackmail scheme last year.
Aron wrote on social media that he was the target of “an elaborate criminal extortion” by a person he did not know wielding what he described as false allegations about his personal life.
“Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement,” Aron said.
Aron said he had taken a risk by reaching out to law enforcement but that the perpetrator had been caught.
“A vigorous federal criminal investigation ensued which resulted in the extortionist being arrested, convicted of a felony. and spending nearly a year in jail,” Aron said.
The blackmailer was previously identified as 35-year-old Sakoya Blackwood reportedly tried to extort $300,000 from her target, who at the time had not been identified.
According to prosecutors, Blackwood threatened to “falsely tell the world” that her victim “has sex with a minor.”
On March 28, Blackwood pleaded guilty to cyberstalking.
According to prosecutors, Blackwood “targeted numerous other potential victims — all wealthy and high-profile men — using fictitious identities.”
“For many months, the defendant kept the Victim suffering from the constant fear that his life would be ruined,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Blackwood, who was born in Jamaica, faces the possibility of deportation.
