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A report from Prince Moore
A Jamaican woman living in New York is facing federal charges for a catfishing scheme in which she used multiple online identities to target rich, prominent men for extortion.
Sakoya Blackwood, 34, is charged with cyber-stalking, extortion, and interstate communications with the intent to extort.
The most serious of the charges, extortion, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
If convicted of all three, she could face 27 years behind bars.
According to an indictment unsealed in New York on Wednesday, Miss Blackwood, who also goes by various aliases, began the alleged scheme in March of this year.
By April, the FBI was investigating her.
She allegedly targeted an unnamed CEO of a publicly traded company.
While details of their alleged interactions were not provided, authorities claim Miss Blackwood used online communications to elicit compromising materials from the victim, then attempted to blackmail him over the course of several months.
Court documents allege Blackwood attempted to extort numerous other potential victims — all wealthy and high profile men.
According to court documents, when Blackwood was arrested on Wednesday, authorities executed a search warrant at her home in the Bronx that she shared with her mother, her brother, and her daughter.
They allegedly found six different ID cards.
Beyond the catfishing scheme, authorities allege Blackwood used the aliases in her professional life and presented different addresses and educational backgrounds on her resumes.
Authorities also say Blackwood has no history of legal employment and lacks legal immigration status, having arrived in the U.S. from Jamaica in 2002 on a tourist visa.
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