Extortion Suspect To Get New Attorney
{Charleston, West Virginia}…U.S.
Magistrate Judge Clarke VanDervort ruled Wednesday that out of an abundance of
caution he would find new counsel for 24 year old Vivek Shah, a California man who allegedly tried to extort $13 million
from West Virginia
coal operator Christopher Cline. Shah had retained Charleston attorney Troy Giatras following
his indictment earlier this year. The aspiring actor is accused of threatening
to kill specific family members of Cline if Cline did not wire the money to an
offshore bank account. Shah is scheduled to to on trial January 7th. In
addition to Cline, Shah allegedly tried to extort money from four others,
including Harvey Weinstein, a movie mogul, and Groupon Co-Founder Eric
Lefkofsky. Federal investigators claim he wanted them to send millions of
dollars to bank accounts in Cyprus,
Mauritius, Malta and Antigua.
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