http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/nyregion/eliot-spitzer-assault-extortion.html 2016-10-12 04:54:14 Woman Who Accused Spitzer of Assault Faces Extortion Charges The accusations that prosecutors made against Svetlana Travis Zakharova mirror others made in a lawsuit by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. === A 25-year-old Russian woman who has had various legal entanglements with The woman, Svetlana Travis Zakharova, occasionally wept as a prosecutor described her as engaging in “a systematic and protracted extortion scheme” with one man, referred to as Complainant 1, that lasted over two years. Neither man was identified, but the accusations by the government relating to Complainant 1 appear to mirror others made in a lawsuit filed by Mr. Spitzer, who Mr. Spitzer’s lawyer, Adam S. Kaufmann, said on Tuesday that prosecutors had informed him of the arrest, and added that his client was cooperating with the investigation. “For more than two years, Ms. Travis made a series of unrelenting threats and false statements as part of an extortionate scheme,” Mr. Kaufmann said. Ms. Zakharova’s involvement with Mr. Spitzer became public in February, when the police investigated a 911 call in which she said that the former governor had choked her during a meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, recused himself from the investigation, saying the close ties between his office and Mr. Spitzer had created an apparent conflict of interest. (Ms. Zakharova’s arraignment on Tuesday was handled by an assistant district attorney from the Bronx, Thomas A. Boyle, who was acting as a special prosecutor.) No charges were filed against Mr. Spitzer, and his lawyer said that In that suit, Mr. Spitzer said that although he had agreed to make payments to Ms. Zakharova to stop her from publicly revealing potentially embarrassing information, she had threatened to “ruin his life” and demanded “hundreds of thousands of dollars, trips to Paris and other valuable property.” At one point, according to Mr. Spitzer’s lawyers, Ms. Zakharova contacted one of Mr. Spitzer’s daughters through social media to “reveal false details of encounters” with him. Mr. Boyle said in court on Tuesday that Ms. Zakharova had obtained about $400,000 from Complainant 1 in an “ongoing blackmail” scheme in which she threatened to release “intimate details of private relationships.” She also threatened to provide such information to news organizations and got in touch “directly or indirectly” with Complainant 1’s family members. In response, Mr. Boyle said, Complainant 1 made payments ranging from $3,000 to $50,000, sometimes writing her name onto checks and other times using wire payments. As Mr. Boyle recounted the allegations on Tuesday, Ms. Zakharova’s legs quivered, her shoulders shook and the sound of sobs could be heard. On several occasions after receiving money from Complainant 1, Mr. Boyle said, Ms. Zakharova transferred nearly identical amounts from an account in the United States to a bank in Russia. Ms. Zakharova’s Russian citizenship made her a flight risk, Mr. Boyle said, and he asked the judge, Ushir Pandit-Durant, not to release her on a bail less than $1 million. Ms. Zakharova’s lawyer, Rigodis Appling, countered that her client had formed significant ties to New York since arriving in the city in 2010 and asked the judge to release her without bail. Ms. Zakharova received a bachelor’s degree in literature from Moscow University, Ms. Appling said, and had then studied film in New York and California. She added that Ms. Zakharova had recently returned to the United States to make a court appearance in California, indicating that she did not avoid legal obligations. “My client has no criminal record,” Ms. Appling said. “She will make every court date.” But the judge ordered Ms. Zakharova to be held on $1 million bail. A moment later, holding her hands to her head and sobbing, Ms. Zakharova walked slowly back toward the jail cells at the back of the courtroom.