Woman pleads guilty in $1.2 billion plot targeting Wes Edens, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and Aston Villa, and co-founder of Fortress Investment

Prosecutors allege that Sophia Luo, a woman from Manhattan, pleaded guilty to fraud charges on Tuesday in connection with an alleged plot to extort more than $1.2 billion from Fortress Investment Group co-founder Wes Edens, along with two other men. According to the court transcript, Luo expressed regret for her actions, stating that she knew her conduct was wrong and accepted full responsibility for it. She faces up to 20 years in prison upon sentencing in February.

The alleged victim in the case, identified as "Victim-1," is believed to be Wes Edens, who co-owns the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and the Aston Villa soccer team in England. Luo initially contacted Victim-1 on LinkedIn in November 2022, proposing a business endeavor. After several meetings, they engaged in a sexual encounter at Luo's Manhattan apartment in June 2023.

Subsequently, Luo's behavior turned threatening, with messages shifting from flattering to accusatory, alleging that Victim-1 misled her into sex or had sex with her while she was mentally incapacitated.

In August 2024, Victim-1 agreed to mediation, believing it would spare his family from public embarrassment. He made an initial payment of several million dollars, but Luo allegedly demanded a significantly larger sum of $900 million initially, rising to $1.215 billion by January 2025. If Victim-1 did not comply, Luo threatened to expose incriminating videos and pictures of their encounter and report criminal acts to government offices.

Despite Luo's lawyer conveying her demands to Victim-1's attorney, the victim refused to pay the extortionate demands.

Forensic examination revealed that Luo had altered images on her devices, and a dog trained to detect electronics alerted law enforcement to a package of sanitary pads containing a purple iPhone and two flash drives, which held the altered images. Luo was arrested on May 28, 2025, and her conditions for release included home detention with GPS monitoring, a ban on using WeChat, and orders to avoid contact with Victim-1 and his family.