A New York woman has been indicted on blackmail and other charges after she allegedly tried to extort more than $1 billion from Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens by threatening to release explicit videos and photos of the two having sex, federal prosecutors said.
Changli “Sophia” Luo, 46, a Chinese-born divorcée and founder of a Manhattan nonprofit, was charged with four counts including blackmail and destruction of records in an indictment returned last year, according to court records. She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial later this year. She was released on a $500,000 bond and is under home detention.
Edens, 64, the co-founder of the Wall Street investment firm Fortress Investment Group and also an owner of English soccer club Aston Villa, was not named in the public charging documents. A spokesman for Edens confirmed he was the target of the alleged scheme and said he expects to testify under oath at trial. Edens cooperated with investigators out of concern for his own safety and that of his family, the spokesman said.
Prosecutors say the alleged extortion stemmed from a brief sexual relationship that began after Luo contacted Edens on LinkedIn in 2022, following his divorce. The pair had sex at Luo’s Manhattan apartment in June 2023 during their third meeting, according to the complaint. Afterward, Luo sent Edens a love letter professing her feelings, but he did not respond.
Her communications turned threatening by November 2023. Luo allegedly contacted Edens’ then-girlfriend (now his wife) at her workplace using a fake name, told her she had slept with Edens and described him negatively. She also reached out to his ex-wife, prosecutors said. Luo later wrote to Edens claiming he had sex with her while she was mentally incapacitated, told him her home had cameras that recorded everything and threatened to go to the media unless he apologized.
“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, according to prosecutors.
Edens denied the allegations but agreed to mediation overseen by a former judge in hopes of stopping the harassment, prosecutors said. He settled for $6.5 million, including $1 million upfront, through lawyers from the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. After the settlement, Luo claimed she had contracted HPV-16, a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to cancer, and blamed Edens. She then sought to renegotiate, demanding as much as $1.215 billion — roughly half of Edens’ estimated $2.5 billion fortune — and continued threatening to release compromising material and contact his investors and family, the complaint alleges.
FBI agents searched Luo’s apartment in May 2025 and found two hidden phones — one in a laundry basket and another in a box of sanitary pads — containing pornographic videos and images that included Edens’ face edited onto another man’s body, prosecutors said. She was arrested June 14, 2025, at John F. Kennedy International Airport as she tried to board a flight to China.
Luo’s lawyers have argued in court filings that she was seeking justice and compensation for what they described as an “inappropriate and aggressive sexual encounter.” One of her attorneys previously told a judge the case involved aggressive posturing during settlement talks. Luo initially represented herself before hiring counsel.
Edens, a billionaire private-equity investor known for bets on subprime loans after the 2008-09 financial crisis and other ventures, co-owns the Bucks with Marc Lasry. He has kept a low public profile on the matter.
The case remains pending in federal court in Manhattan. Luo’s nonprofit, One World Initiative Advocacy, produced video interviews with economists and environmentalists.
Flip the pages for photos of Ms. Luo.
