Suspect in Cindy Crawford extortion case surrenders in Germany
A former German model accused of trying to extort $100,000 from Cindy Crawford and her husband was taken into custody by German authorities.
U.S. authorities last week charged the man after he allegedly threatened to hand over to the media a photo of the couple's then-7-year-old daughter gagged and tied to a chair.
Edis "Eddie" Kayalar, walked into a police station in Stuttgart, Germany, on Monday.
According to an FBI affidavit, Crawford and her husband, entrepreneur Rande Gerber, first got a call from Kayalar in July. The man told them he had a "sexy" photograph of their daughter in revealing clothing, and later asked to meet.
Kayalar initially asked Crawford and Gerber for an unspecified amount of money, saying he was broke and that he could get a lot of money by selling the photo to the tabloids. Gerber took the photo and gave Kayalar $1,000 in cash "for his trouble," the affidavit stated.
When the man called again demanding more money, saying he had another copy of the photograph, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement and determined that Kayalar was in the United States illegally. He was arrested and deported in September but continued his threats from Germany, later asking for $100,000.
Crawford and Gerber released a statement saying the photo was taken by the nanny as part of "a purported game," and that they "intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter."
-- Victoria Kim
Photo: Edis "Eddie" Kayalar, seen in an undated photo, was charged by U.S. authorities last week with trying to extort money from Cindy Crawford and her husband. Credit: U.S. Department of Justice
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EDITOR'S PICKS:
I am just saying that:
It must have been a weird game by any standards, you'd think?
Posted by: tim | November 17, 2009 at 08:03 AM
I think Cindy and her DH need to call Dr. Laura...
Posted by: Karen | November 17, 2009 at 09:41 AM
They seem more concerned about the photo and the money than about a nanny who gagged their daughter and tied her to a chair.
Maybe it's just the slant of this article, but I'd give their parenting a pretty hard look.
Posted by: Baffled Observer | November 17, 2009 at 10:41 AM
i'll couch up $20 to see the cindy crawford gagged and tied in a chair. the 1980's cindy crawford. sorry, that was mean.
Posted by: Frank The Tank | November 17, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Just when you thought you knew what "creepy" meant, here is a whole new dimension in exploitation.
I hardly think you can impugn the parent's parenting based upon so little information. If anything, the fact that they did not hold a dramatic press event with gnashing of teeth and CGI recreations suggests that they are private people who have managed to lead lives of success without succumbing to the weird attention mongering that we see every day. I think the less attention this story gets, the better for the child.
And yes, WTF about the nanny? What a freak. If anything, the nanny's weirdness underscores the whole family's need for privacy, protection from exploitation, and the unfounded judgement of total strangers.
Posted by: Well, here's a whole new take on "creepy" | November 17, 2009 at 03:04 PM
How horribly scary that would be for the child and the parents too. I hope this jerk gets the max penalty.
Posted by: Bluejeans | November 17, 2009 at 04:15 PM