6 yrs jail for Swiss Gigolo in BMW heiress case

Munich, Mar 10: Helg Sgarbi, who German media dubbed as 'Swiss Gigolo' was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty of threatening and blackmailing Susanne Klatten, the BMW heiress. Forbes magazine listed her as the 68th richest person in the world in 2008.

Sgarbi admitted that he met Susanne at a spa near Innsbruck, Austria in July 2007 and started an affair. Later he demanded $9 million from Susanne to save a paralysed girl hit by his car. He then asked Susanne to leave her family and invest about $367 million in a trust for him which Susanne refused.

Sgarbi then threatened to release secretly filmed videos of their trysts. But Susanne filed a complaint and Sgarbi was arrested and has been held in detention since. Helg Sgarbi was charged with extortion and fraud for blackmailing Susanne and three other women in similar scams. The name of other three victims are not released by the Prosecutors.

"I deeply regret what has happened and apologize to the aggrieved ladies in this public hearing," Sgarbi told the Munich court.

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