Changli Sophia Luo is currently facing trial after being indicted for an alleged extortion plot against Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens. Per the Wall Street Journal, the ordeal began after Luo reached out to Edens over LinkedIn in 2022.
Edens, a billionaire known for his strategic financial bets and his ownership of the Milwaukee Bucks and British soccer team Aston Villa, had recently finalized a divorce when he began corresponding with Luo. Luo is a Manhattan resident who founded a nonprofit focused on video interviews. According to federal prosecutors, when they finally met, the pair had sex at her apartment during their third encounter.
What followed was a sharp shift from a brief relationship to a targeted campaign of threats. Prosecutors allege that Luo, 46, attempted to extort more than $1 billion from Edens by threatening to release compromising photos and videos. Things eventually escalated, with Luo allegedly reaching out to Edens’s family members and business associates. She also allegedly threatened to destroy him if her demands for compensation were not met.
The man is currently living in a telenovela
The federal investigation kicked off in early 2025 after a lawyer for Edens contacted the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office. A spokesman for Edens confirmed he is the individual identified as Victim-1 in the legal filings, noting that he reached out to law enforcement to protect his family.
“Mr. Edens will be making no comment on the case as the indictment speaks for itself with respect to the charges against the defendant,” the spokesman said. “Mr. Edens expects to testify under oath at the upcoming trial.”
Court documents detail a timeline where Luo’s tone shifted from affection to hostility. After their encounter, she reportedly sent a love letter, but months later, she began contacting those close to him. Prosecutors say she even gained access to the office of the doctor where Edens’s then-girlfriend worked by using a fake name.
She later claimed in messages to Edens that she had been mentally incapacitated during their encounter and that her home was equipped with cameras. “I am sure your family and business partners will learn about you and your misdeeds from these interviews and will provide exposure that will taint your record forever,” she wrote.
While Edens denied these allegations, he initially attempted to resolve the matter through mediation to avoid further harassment of his family. Her lawyers claim he agreed to a settlement of $6.5 million, but Luo later sought to renegotiate for over $1 billion after discovering she had an infection she blamed on him.
The situation reached a boiling point when FBI agents searched her apartment in May, discovering phones hidden in a laundry basket and a box of sanitary pads. One of the devices reportedly contained pornographic images with Eden’s face superimposed on another man’s body.
Luo was arrested on June 14 of last year at John F. Kennedy International Airport while attempting to board a flight to China. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently under home detention following her release on a $500,000 bond.
Her defense team has argued that she was seeking justice and compensation for an aggressive sexual encounter, and they have requested that the charges be dismissed. The case will be moving towards trial later this year. Eden will be facing quite the post-divorce legal storm going forward. While that is quite normal in celebrity divorces, this is definitely a twist. It’s a rebound fling causing the issues.
Published: May 11, 2026 10:57 am