Yoko Ono Driver Charged with Extortion

12/14/2006 11:34 AM, E! Online


Isn't this the opposite of giving peace a chance? 

New York police arrested chauffeur Koral Karsan Wednesday for allegedly trying to bilk Yoko Ono for $2 million. The 50-year-old man, who reportedly worked for Ono for at least six years, has been charged with first-degree attempted grand larceny in a case that a Manhattan prosecutor called "truly overwhelming."

According to a letter written by the defendant that was read in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday morning, Karsan claimed to have people "on standby waiting to kill the victim on his orders" and was planning to move to Turkey and pen a tell-all book about John Lennon's widow if she didn't meet his demands, prosecutor Maureen O'Connor said.

Police said that authorities were alerted after Karsan dropped off the above note—and a photo of Ono in her nightclothes—in front of the Dakota apartment building, where Ono has lived since the 1970s. Karsan is said to have picked Dec. 8—the 26th anniversary of Lennon's death—to relay the message. 

Ono's security team told investigators that Karsan's note stated he had secretly photographed and tape-recorded his boss during private moments and would take the materials public if she didn't fork over $2 million. 

"I will not only write about these recordings but will distribute them to European broadcasting stations," the letter stated. "Be advised I am moving back to Turkey permanently and will publish my book in Turkey and will distribute the prints throughout the Internet from Iran where I have already secured e-commerce capability."

The 73-year-old Plastic Ono Band muse was "shocked by what happened and did what any citizen would do—she went to the cops," Ono's publicist, Elliott Mintz, told tmz.com. 

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said that officers obtained a search warrant for Karsan's home, after which the Amityville resident was arrested. 

"No, no way," Karsan said Wednesday as police led him into the police station, according to the Associated Press. The defendant's attorney, Patrick Brosnahan Jr., said his client would "vigorously dispute" the charge, saying in court that Ono has a history of problems with her employees.

As officers escorted him from the station Thursday, Karsan told reporters that Ono was trying "to stop [him] from pursuing a sexual harassment case."

Judge Tanya Kennedy set bail at $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond, provided that Karsan could prove he obtained the money legally. She also granted orders of protection for Ono and her lawyer, Jonas Herbsman, forbidding Karsan from visiting, phoning or sending messages of any kind to "anywhere [Karsan believes] them to be."

"You're reminded that this takes place around that time of the anniversary, when she is in a particularly vulnerable position," Mintz told the AP. "It just adds insult to injury. This one's really cold." 

Seriously, as if December isn't hard enough for Ono already, regardless of alleged crackpot schemes. 

Lennon was gunned down in front of the Dakota by Mark David Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980. This year, his widow called for the date of the rock icon's murder to become a worldwide day of remembrance and forgiveness. 

"Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world," Ono wrote in an open letter published Sunday in the New York Times and various British papers. 

But that olive branch does not extend to Chapman, who was denied parole last month for the fourth time. 

"As the widow of one who was killed by an act of violence, I don't know if I am ready yet to forgive the one who pulled the trigger," Ono stated. "I am sure all victims of violent crimes feel as I do. But healing is what is urgently needed now in the world."

(Originally published on Dec. 13 at 8:46 p.m. PT)