Swiss gigolo’ pleads guilty to fraud and extortion
A Swiss man has admitted seducing a series of rich women to con them out of millions of francs. Helg Sgarbi, who’s being dubbed the ’Swiss gigolo’ appeared in court this morning in Munich. He pleaded guilty to fraud and extortion after he threatened to publish comprising images of his encounters with the women in hotels.One of his blackmail victims was Susanne Klatten, heiress of the German car manufacturer BMW. The 44 year old apologised in court to his victims. He’ll now face up to 10 years in prison.
(CNN) -- The gigolo former lover of Germany's richest woman has been jailed for six years after confessing to blackmailing her and other women out of millions of dollars, a court official said Monday.SUSANNE KLATTEN, the BMW heiress, complained to police last year that Helg Sgarbi had threatened to release pictures of them if she did not pay him nearly $60 million.
Munich's state prosecutor Anton Winkler said Sgarbi, who was accused of blackmailing several wealthy woman, had made a written confession which was read by his lawyer to the court.
"He confessed that he blackmailed the victims, told them untrue stories," Winkler told CNN.
However, Sgarbi had not revealed what had happened to the estimated $12.5 million he had taken from his victims nor where the pictures had gone.
"It is really only half a confession. We asked him about where the money is, about accomplices and videos... and he refused to say anything about that," Winkler said.
Authorities said SUSANNE KLATTEN, who is married with three children, had an affair with Sgarbi.
He started to ask SUSANNE KLATTEN for money, and she paid several million at first, but when she refused to provide more he threatened to send compromising SEX TAPE to her husband and the media.
SUSANNE KLATTEN went to the police in January 2008, telling them she was the victim of a fraud and blackmail.
At the time, SUSANNE KLATTEN's spokesman, Joerg Appelhans, told CNN that Sgarbi's goal had always been to con her.
"She rigorously notified authorities even in light of the uncomfortable public repercussions this would have for her," Appelhans said.
Sgarbi's lawyer, Egon Geis, said he was surprised by all the media attention.
"This is all because of SUSANNE KLATTEN, take the same amount of money and any other person and no one would care."
Scarbi allegedly maintained relationships with a number of woman, telling them he was a special Swiss representative in crisis zones.
SUSANNE KLATTEN, the daughter of the late BMW chief Herbert Quandt, holds a 12.5-percent stake in the German carmaker and a 51.1-percent share of chemical company Altana.
Forbes magazine lists SUSANNE KLATTEN as the world's 55th richest person, with a personal fortune of $13.2 billion