Harvey Weinstein Extortion Plot Leads to Actor's Arrest (PHOTO)
An up-and-coming actor has been arrested in the plot to extort millions of dollars from studio owner Harvey Weinstein and other top business executives.
Vivek Shah, 25, was arrested at his parents' house in Illinois after making death threats on a slew of top executives and their family members in an attempt to extort millions of dollars. Shah had allegedly sent letter to Weinstein and four other top-earning moguls.
"Each of these letters contained a threat to kill named members of the recipient's family unless a large sum of money was wired to an offshore bank account," Postal Inspector Joshua Mehall said in a sworn affidavit.
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Weinstein is the co-founder of Miramax Films and in 2005 went on to open The Weinstein Company along with other fellow producers from Miramax. He is currently married to Georgina Chapman, with whom he has one daughter, and also has three children from his previous marriage.
The suspect, a former resident of West Hollywood who considered himself an up-and-coming actor, also sent letters to a coal magnate, an oil executive and the owner of an NHL team. Weinstein's name was not officially name in the affidavit, although he is believed to be one of the victims involved along with Christopher Cline, who is worth an estimated $1.5 billion.
Shah described himself on Facebook as an entrepreneur and film producer. He also managed to capture photos of himself along A-list actors that include Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, and Zach Galifianakis amongst others.
Shah is currently being held in West Virginia. Before his arrest, he had been scheduled for a handgun training session, according to "The Smoking Gun."
Shah's resume includes single episodes appearances on the television shows "Bones,"Outsourced," and "Animal Witness." He had an uncredited role in "The Dark Knight" and played a maitre'd in the 2010 movie "Our Family Wedding," according to IMDb.
