Blackmail

Nothing says sisterhood like slipping your college gal pal a date-rape drug to render her semi-conscious, and then throwing her body down a mine shaft after a prank goes awry. And nothing should bring a group of five graduating sorority sisters closer together than a conspiracy to cover up that friend’s accidental murder, even as the body count by a revenge-seeking assassin - who really likes his work, by the way - piles as high as the suds in the sorority hot tub. But of course, if "Sorority Row" had a cast of characters - or a story line, for that matter - that was as half as smart, strong, or secretive as the...

FC Sion says it has filed a criminal complaint against members of FIFA's executive committee over its threat to suspend Switzerland from world soccer Sion said on its website Thursday that the threat made on Dec. 17 by soccer's ruling body amounts to unacceptable blackmail and a breach of basic legal rules. FIFA said it wanted the Swiss national association to discipline Sion within one month over a long-running legal battle. Sion is contesting its expulsion from the Europa League in September for fielding players signed during a FIFA transfer ban imposed in 2009.

A court has ordered the arrest of two self-described witches on blackmail and extortion charges in a high-profile case involving a TV star and, reportedly, other public figures. The Bucharest Appeals Court ruled Wednesday that Rada Minca and Roxana Lider should be arrested for 29 days pending trial. Police spokesman Christian Ciocan says the two women approached public figures promising to help them overcome work or love difficulties and break curses. He says they initially charged very little, but as their victims became hooked on their services, increased their prices.

A court has ordered the arrest of two self-described witches on blackmail and extortion charges in a high-profile case involving a TV star and, reportedly, other public figures. The Bucharest Appeals Court ruled Wednesday that Rada Minca and Roxana Lider should be arrested for 29 days pending trial. Police spokesman Christian Ciocan says the two women approached public figures promising to help them overcome work or love difficulties and break curses. He says they initially charged very little, but as their victims became hooked on their services, increased their prices.

BANGKOK -- France accused the United States yesterday of pressuring developing countries to give up their right to make less expensive generic HIV drugs in return for free-trade agreements -- with President Jacques Chirac calling the tactic "tantamount to blackmail. " A US official dismissed the French allegation as "nonsense," while delegates to the International AIDS Conference lamented figures showing only about 7 percent of the 6 million people in poor countries who need antiretroviral treatment are getting it. European and US pharmaceutical giants make most of the drugs, which are...

A journalist in Vietnam has been sentenced to seven years in prison for blackmailing a cement company. The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper says Phan Ha Binh, who works for the Tien Phong newspaper, was convicted of extortion at a one-day trial Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Friday's report, Binh told the judge he wrote three negative stories about the cement company in 2010 and that he told the company he wouldn't write additional stories if it paid him $10,000. He told the company that for another $3,000, he'd write positive stories.

NEW YORK -- A federal judge yesterday ordered the release of dozens more pictures of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib, rejecting government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against US troops in Iraq. US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said that terrorists "do not need pretexts for their barbarism" and that suppressing the pictures would amount to submitting to blackmail. "Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command," he said.

FC Sion says it has filed a criminal complaint against members of FIFA's executive committee over its threat to suspend Switzerland from world soccer Sion said on its website Thursday that the threat made on Dec. 17 by soccer's ruling body amounts to unacceptable blackmail and a breach of basic legal rules. FIFA said it wanted the Swiss national association to discipline Sion within one month over a long-running legal battle. Sion is contesting its expulsion from the Europa League in September for fielding players signed during a FIFA transfer ban imposed in...

NEW YORK - A British judge ordered 3M Corp. to pay $1.3 million in damages after finding that the company failed to make good on its promise to market a diagnostic test to screen for a dangerous bacterium found in hospitals. The decision was a victory for a British investment fund, Porton Group, and its partners, who sued in 2008, claiming 3M had breached its contract to commercialize the test. The award was far smaller than the $40 million initially sought. 3M also claimed victory and said it would press ahead with a separate lawsuit filed in the United States, which alleged...

BUDAPEST - A coffin containing the body of an Austrian billionaire has been returned to his family, more than a year after it was stolen from a graveyard by thieves who blackmailed the relatives for $150,000, police said yesterday. It also emerged that criminals from Hungary and Romania were involved in the crime, and that private investigators and security companies had been involved in the search for the coffin without telling police. “This is a large case of blackmail that was carried out very professionally, although it involved a rather unusual instrument: a...

NEW YORK - A British judge ordered 3M Corp. to pay $1.3 million in damages after finding that the company failed to make good on its promise to market a diagnostic test to screen for a dangerous bacterium found in hospitals. The decision was a victory for a British investment fund, Porton Group, and its partners, who sued in 2008, claiming 3M had breached its contract to commercialize the test. The award was far smaller than the $40 million initially sought. 3M also claimed victory and said it would press ahead with a separate lawsuit filed in the United States, which alleged Boulter and a...

A journalist in Vietnam has been sentenced to seven years in prison for blackmailing a cement company. The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper says Phan Ha Binh, who works for the Tien Phong newspaper, was convicted of extortion at a one-day trial Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Friday's report, Binh told the judge he wrote three negative stories about the cement company in 2010 and that he told the company he wouldn't write additional stories if it paid him $10,000. He told the company that for another $3,000, he'd write positive stories.

BUDAPEST - A coffin containing the body of an Austrian billionaire has been returned to his family, more than a year after it was stolen from a graveyard by thieves who blackmailed the relatives for $150,000, police said yesterday. It also emerged that criminals from Hungary and Romania were involved in the crime, and that private investigators and security companies had been involved in the search for the coffin without telling police. “This is a large case of blackmail that was carried out very professionally, although it involved a rather unusual instrument: a coffin,’’ said Ernst...

A CBS producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman used pages from a former assistant’s diary that described an affair with the “Late Night’’ host, a law enforcement official confirmed yesterday. Stephanie Birkitt , 34, works on the show and lived in Norwalk, Conn., with Robert Halderman until August. Halderman copied parts of Birkitt’s diary and tried to use it as blackmail fodder, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Halderman pleaded not guilty last week to attempted first-degree grand larceny in the $2 million plot.

Nothing says sisterhood like slipping your college gal pal a date-rape drug to render her semi-conscious, and then throwing her body down a mine shaft after a prank goes awry. And nothing should bring a group of five graduating sorority sisters closer together than a conspiracy to cover up that friend’s accidental murder, even as the body count by a revenge-seeking assassin - who really likes his work, by the way - piles as high as the suds in the sorority hot tub. But of course, if "Sorority Row" had a cast of characters - or a story line, for that matter - that was as half as smart, strong, or...

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin yesterday accused Georgia of blackmail and lawmakers threatened more sanctions as Moscow police went after businesses allegedly tied to Georgian organized crime and cracked down on illegal migrants from the Caucasus Mountains nation. The Kremlin's fury over the arrest last week of four Russian officers in Georgia -- which sparked Moscow's suspension of air, sea, road, rail, and postal links Tuesday -- showed no sign of ebbing despite their release.

A CBS producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman used pages from a former assistant’s diary that described an affair with the “Late Night’’ host, a law enforcement official confirmed yesterday. Stephanie Birkitt , 34, works on the show and lived in Norwalk, Conn., with Robert Halderman until August. Halderman copied parts of Birkitt’s diary and tried to use it as blackmail fodder, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Halderman pleaded not guilty last week to attempted first-degree grand larceny in the $2 million plot.

FB? That's the best they could do? The company that changed how politicians raise money, dissidents start revolutions and parents keep tabs on their kids announced its stock ticker symbol Wednesday. And it used about as much creativity as liking someone else's status. This was Facebook's place on the ticker, the electronic river of American commerce. This was a chance to make a statement, assert an identity — a choice as fundamental as picking blue for the ribbon at the top of the screen.

NEW YORK -- A federal judge yesterday ordered the release of dozens more pictures of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib, rejecting government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against US troops in Iraq. US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said that terrorists "do not need pretexts for their barbarism" and that suppressing the pictures would amount to submitting to blackmail. "Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command," he said.

BANGKOK -- France accused the United States yesterday of pressuring developing countries to give up their right to make less expensive generic HIV drugs in return for free-trade agreements -- with President Jacques Chirac calling the tactic "tantamount to blackmail. " A US official dismissed the French allegation as "nonsense," while delegates to the International AIDS Conference lamented figures showing only about 7 percent of the 6 million people in poor countries who need antiretroviral treatment are getting it. European and US pharmaceutical giants make most of the...