Harvey Weinstein (WireImage)
FRAUD: Bit actor Vivek Shah, who allegedly threatened to kill Harvey Weinstein in an elaborate extortion plot, liked to pose with stars like Sofia Vergara and pretend he was a bigwig. (
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And the award for best wacko goes to . . .
The aspiring actor charged with trying to extort millions of dollars from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein plus four other tycoons and their families has a history of violent threats, obsessing over money — and even stealing toilets, The Post has learned.
“He threatened my life twice. He said leave this apartment within 24 hours or I’ll kill you,” said Jeremy Sinclair Short, ex-roomate of accused Hollywood extortionist Vivek Shah.
Shah, 25, also later stole more than $8,000 worth of Short’s belongings from their Los Angeles apartment in December 2010 — including two Toto electronic toilets worth a combined $3,000, computers, electronics, professional cookware and his running shoes, said Short, who filed a police report.
“Two days later, a note came saying, ‘Merry Christmas and I f–ked you,’ ” Short said of Shah, whose bit roles in movies included “The Dark Knight” and the Forest Whitaker flick “Our Family Wedding.”
When they were on better terms, Shah — “who is ruled by money” — told Short, “ ‘Every penny [Shah earned] goes toward my million-dollar wedding I want to have before I’m 30,’ ” the roomie recalled.
Shah often attended and crashed Tinseltown events, where he posed for photos with stars such as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Sofia Vergara.
“He sends us these pictures every once in a while of him with these stars,” said Shah’s former Chicago acting teacher, Edward Dennis Fogell. “He says he tries to get financing [for movie deals] and things of that nature.”
Shah also allegedly sought bigger bucks in illegal ways — allegedly hatching an extortion plot that reportedly left Weinstein shaken but determined to fight back.
“It was scary when he got that letter that involved his family. He was like, ‘What the heck is this?’ It’s the craziest thing he’s ever had to deal with,” a source close to the mogul told Deadline.com. “He said, ‘Business is business, but this is my family.’”
Federal authorities claim that in addition to Weinstein, Shah sent threatening letters to West Virginia coal tycoon Chris Cline, Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky and the daughter of late Texas oilman Dan Duncan.
Those letters “contained a threat to kill members of the recipient’s family unless a large sum of money was wired to an offshore bank account,” charges a Charleston, W.Va., federal-court criminal complaint.
Shah allegedly demanded $13 million from billionaire Cline.
The complaint details efforts Shah allegedly took to pull off the shakedowns. They include using pre-paid debit cards to buy mailing labels for the letters and setting up a bank account in Cyprus to receive money from Cline.