AMC Entertainment CEO Reveals He Was Victim of Catfishing and Blackmail Attempt
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A 35-year-old woman was charged in a Manhattan federal court with attempting to extort Adam Aron out of $300,000.
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Adam AronAMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron has revealed that he was a victim of a criminal extortion attempt last year.
On Thursday, Aron, 69, posted a lengthy message on X (formerly known as Twitter), explaining how “a third party who was unknown” to him made “false allegations” about his life.
“Unfortunately, last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me related to false allegations about my personal life,” Aron wrote. “Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement.”
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The businessman added that the “extortionist” ended up “being arrested, convicted of a felony, and spending nearly a year in jail,” after a “vigorous federal criminal investigation” was conducted.
Throughout my long career, I have successfully led many prominent companies and am proud of my impeccable reputation. In recent years, AMC's millions of retail shareholders have played a central role in my life. Your passion for our company is one of my key motivators in doing…
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) October 12, 2023
In 2022, Sakoya Blackwood, then 34, was charged in a Manhattan federal court on allegations that she attempted to extort an unnamed high-profile CEO out of $300,000, according to court documents.
Blackwood threatened to expose Aron's online behavior to the AMC board after she pretended to be a former romantic partner of his by using an anonymous online account. Blackwood targeted other wealthy and high-profile men using fictitious identities in her scheme, a Department of Justice press release states.
Blackwood pleaded guilty in March to cyberstalking in a plea deal under which two other counts she faced were dropped.
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Adam AronAron wrote in his X post that he was “asked by law enforcement to keep this matter confidential during their investigation and subsequent court case.”
Once the case was over, he informed “AMC's Board of Directors which thoroughly reviewed these events with independent outside counsel.” He described the case as "entirely a personal matter.”
Prior to Aron's Thursday post on X, Semafor reported that Aron had been the unnamed CEO who'd been the victim of an extortion plot.
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