Billionaire Bucks owner Wesley Edens blackmailed after sexy fling with Chinese divorcee who demanded half his fortune: feds
The billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Bucks was allegedly blackmailed by a Chinese-born divorcée after he hooked up 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 slid into his LinkedIn DMs in 2022, according to federal prosecutors and the Wall Street Journal reported.
After Edens, who was newly divorced, had a night of passion at Luo’s Manhattan apartment, she sent him a desperate love letter — and then became progressively more deranged 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 feeling [sic] for you, as I do love you from the bottom of my heart!” Luo wrote to Edens.
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens was the alleged victim of an extortion scheme from an ex-lover. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Luo then undertook 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 shakedown, which involved threatening to publish 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.
Changli “Sophia” Luo allegedly photoshopped Edens’s face onto naked images. One World Initiative
One phone had several pornographic videos and images that had Edens’s face edited onto another man’s body, according to prosecutors.
Luo also arrested on June 14 at JFK International Airport as she tried 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 rep confirmed he was the target of Luo’s campaign.
According to prosecutors, Luo tried to hit Edens where it hurt — she reached out to his family and his ex-wife and threatened to go to 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 went along with the shakedown, 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 meditation 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 looked to renegotiate the deal, asking for as much as $1.215 billion.
Luo was charged with four counts, including blackmail and destruction of records, and has pleaded not guilty.
She was released on a $500,000 bond and placed under home detention.
She is scheduled to face trial later this year.
