Police make arrest in Ashley Madison extortion investigation
Posted December 3, 2018 12:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A 48-year-old man has been charged with extortion after police allege he targeted men who were using the online dating service Ashley Madison.
Police say in the first instance a 58-year-old man befriended a person identified on the site as “Svenita.”
Police say he provided the person with intimate personal information.
They agreed to meet in March.
But on the day of the arranged meeting, the alleged victim was instead approached by a man who told him “Svenita” was an underage girl linked to organized crime.
The suspect then allegedly ordered the man to pay a sum of cash to avoid his correspondence with “Svenita” from being publicly exposed.
In November 2018, a 64-year-old man befriended a person on Ashley Madison named “SarahMickeyKay.”
Police say he also provided the person with intimate information and arranged a meeting. One the day of the meeting, he was approached by a man who said “SarahMickeyKay” was an underage girl linked to organized crime.
The man was allegedly told that if he didn’t pay a sum of money, his behaviour would be exposed.
Toronto police have charged Michael Maletin with two counts of extortion and two counts of wear disguise with intent.
Ashley Madison, which facilitates affairs among consenting adults, made headlines in 2015 after a massive data breach that affected 37 million customers.
One man came forward following the breach, telling CityNews he was targeted in an extortion attempt, but refused to pay.
