Word on the street is that the holiday season is a time for giving. And theres no better gift than blackmail. Earlier today the BBC reported that, last week on the anniversary of husband John Lennons death, Yoko Ono received a mysterious package at her New York apartment that contained a photograph of the avant-garde artiste in her undergarments and a letter detailing an extortion plot. The culpritOnos driver Koral Karsanhas chauffeured her around daily for the last six years and, according to spokesperson Eliot Mintz, Ono is pretty disturbed by the situation:
"She is one woman who has been through enough. For an employeeespecially a trusted employee who drove herto attempt a shakedown has left her just absolutely shocked," Mintz said.
[Onos security] staff told detectives that in his "rambling" note, Karsan claimed to have secretly photographed Ono and made recordings of her private conversationsapparently while she was in the car with him.
The driver warned he would make the material public if she did not pay him [two million dollars], police said.
The driver also talked about killing her and her son Sean in a conversation which was recorded by investigators, police said. Charges are pending.
erin_broadley
Los Angeles, CA
October 2006
DEC 14, 2006 05:46 PM