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CRIME

German man charged in Cindy Crawford blackmail plot

A German man has tried to blackmail former supermodel Cindy Crawford out of €67,000 with a picture of Crawford’s 7-year-old daughter gagged and bound to a chair, US media reported on Friday.

German man charged in Cindy Crawford blackmail plot
Crawford with her husband Rande Gerber. Photo: DPA

Celebrity gossip website TMZ reported that Edis Kayalar, the 26-year-old friend of the former nanny for Crawford’s daughter, threatened to release the picture to the media unless he was paid $100,000.

The picture was taken during a game of “cops and robbers” without the knowledge of Crawford, 43, her agent said in a statement.

Documents filed in a federal court state that the nanny took the pictures as a “prank” and that Kayalar, a male model, then stole them from her.

Crawford’s husband Rande Gerber paid Kayalar $1,000 (€670) for what he believed was the original photo, the documents stated. But Kayalar contacted him several days later demanding more money, at which point the couple went to the police, who passed the case on to the FBI.

Kayalar was deported from the United States to Germany in September for immigration violation, the media reports stated. People magazine reported he was now in Stuttgart.

On November 1, Kayalar then contacted the couple again, demanding $100,000 and claiming he “had no choice now but to extort the victims for money because they had gotten him deported.”

Kayalar now faces up to two years’ jail, though the nanny, who was not named, had not been charged, People magazine reported.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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