FREMONT, CA (KRON/CNN) – A California man has been arrested for allegedly recording a couple having sex and trying to extort them for money.
Police say back in March, a couple moved into a two-bedroom apartment and shared it with several other people, including the suspect, 33-year-old Maninder Adama.
The couple moved out of the area at the end of April, but in mid-June, they began receiving messages from an unknown email address with claims that the sender was in possession of a video that depicted them engaging in sexual acts together, according to police.
Adama threatened to send the video to the couple’s family and post it on social media sites if they didn’t pay him $5,000, police say.
“Then he also said, [speaking to the woman in particular], ‘Well, if you don’t have the money to pay up, if you spend the night with me, I’ll forgive the $5,000 and give you back the tape,’” said Detective Michael Gebhardt with the Fremont Police Department.
The suspect included screenshots of the video as proof in his emails. Based on the positioning of the room and its setup, the couple believed they were recorded while living in the shared apartment.
Police, who were contacted in July, determined Adama was the one sending the emails.
The suspect was arrested Thursday, and several laptops and electronic devices with the ability to record audio and video were seized, police say. In addition, detectives located a video of the victims on one of the laptops.
Adama was booked on suspicion of multiple counts of felony extortion and multiple misdemeanor counts related to invasion of privacy for allegedly recording the victims.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the case to determine if there are additional victims.
Copyright 2017 KRON via CNN. All rights reserved.
