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Former Schaumburg man sentenced to 7 years for extortion

A former Schaumburg man was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in federal prison for a multimillion-dollar extortion scheme, according to a news release from the FBI.

Vivek Shah, 26, now of West Hollywood, Calif., was arrested by FBI agents on Aug. 10, 2012, in Schaumburg after they discovered he threatened to kill family members of seven prominent victims unless they wired tens of millions of dollars into offshore bank accounts.

Shah's victims included movie producer Harvey Weinstein, Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, and coal executive Chris Cline, oil and gas billionaire Terry Pegula, Playtone film company co-owner Gary Goetzman, Relativity Media founder Ryan Kavanaugh and Dannine Avara, daughter of a prominent Texas oil industry executive.

His demands from all the victims totaled to more than $122 million.

Former Schaumburg man linked to extortion plot

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