Woman accused of extorting millions from man in Las Vegas
A woman has been charged with extorting millions from a wealthy man in Las Vegas by threatening to expose photos of him along with secretly recorded conversations, according to police and court records.
Las Vegas police wrote in an arrest report for Ava Blige, 30, that the man, whose name was blacked out in the report, first met Blige in 2016 when she was an employee at the Signature at MGM Grand. The man agreed to mentor and financially support her in a business endeavor, police said, but eventually the relationship turned personal.
“He noticed they would fight if he didn’t give her thousands of dollars to purchase clothes, jewelry and cars,” the report states. “(The man) explained she would tell him he made her that way, so she had to live a certain lifestyle and he needed to pay for it.”
The man told police that when he would not give Blige money, “she would make comments stating she recorded almost every conversation to use against him,” according to the report. He told police he was previously unaware that Blige had recorded their conversations.
“If he didn’t give her money when she requested it, she would go to the news and or post all the information publicly on Instagram,” police wrote.
Police examined the accuser’s phone, finding 25,000 text messages between the man and Blige. They found texts demanding that she be paid “every Thursday” and that if he didn’t pay her, “she has all the paperwork and text messages ready with all the information they had discussed in the past.”
The report references the man’s attempts at one point to pay the woman as part of a confidentiality agreement drawn up by a lawyer.
Police cited another text message to the man in which Blige said, “It’s time to go to war!”
“She also says she has over 8,000 pictures she can share,” police wrote of Blige’s messages to the man.
The man indicated in text conversations that he would do what it took to make Blige happy.
“Blige asks for $60,000 so she could get a racetrack membership so she could begin training to be a race car driver,” police wrote. “She also asked for $20,000 so she can redesign her residence.”
In yet another conversation, Blige told the man that he needed to pay for a shopping spree.
“She stated she is going to Tiffany & CO and she already plans to spend $28,000,” the arrest report states. “He asks if she is asking for him to pay for it and if he doesn’t, will she start posting again? She responds she will go to Louboutin, Mikimoto, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Blige said he agreed to it the night before when they met in person.”
Las Vegas Justice Court records show that Blige is charged with 27 felonies: one count of extortion, six counts of monitoring a private conversation, 14 counts of money laundering and six counts of conducting a financial transaction with illegally obtained money. A public defender has been appointed to represent her.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in Justice Court.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.